Steckler v. Steckler

921 So. 2d 740, 2006 WL 359673
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 17, 2006
Docket5D05-669
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 921 So. 2d 740 (Steckler v. Steckler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Steckler v. Steckler, 921 So. 2d 740, 2006 WL 359673 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

921 So.2d 740 (2006)

Rebecca S. STECKLER, Appellant,
v.
Marc E. STECKLER, Appellee.

No. 5D05-669.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

February 17, 2006.

*741 Richard D'Amico, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

No Appearance for Appellee.

ORFINGER, J.

The former wife, Rebecca S. Steckler, appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to stay enforcement proceedings and determine jurisdiction, and granting the former husband's motion for contempt and enforcement of final judgment. The former wife and the former husband had three children together. The parties separated in July 2003, at which time the former wife and the children moved to North Dakota. The parties' marriage was dissolved by final judgment in the circuit court of Volusia County, Florida in April 2004. The final judgment provided, in pertinent part, that the parties were to have shared parental responsibility, but that the former wife was to be the primary residential parent for the children, who reside with her in North Dakota. The final judgment also provided that the children spend four consecutive weeks during the summer and Christmas in even-numbered years with the former husband in Florida.

In August 2004, the former husband filed a motion for contempt and for enforcement of the final judgment. The former husband alleged that he had tried to contact the former wife about visitation during the summer of 2004, but she refused to accept his letters or return his phone calls. After due consideration, the trial court modified the custody order, allowing the former husband to have visitation with the children for their entire Christmas break in 2004 as compensation for his inability to have visitation during the summer, as required by the final judgment.

The former husband visited the children in North Dakota during Thanksgiving of 2004. Following the former husband's Thanksgiving visit, the former wife filed a petition for protection against the former *742 husband in North Dakota on behalf of herself and the children. In the petition, the former wife alleged that the former husband posed an immediate and present danger to her and her children. Specifically, the former wife claimed that the former husband abused her while he was in North Dakota for Thanksgiving. The North Dakota trial court granted a temporary domestic violence protection order and set a date for a hearing on the former wife's petition. The former husband appeared at the hearing via telephone without counsel. On December 27, 2004, the North Dakota trial court issued a two-year domestic violence protective order against the former husband. The order provided, in pertinent part:

[Former husband] may call the children once each week on Wednesday between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. central standard time. The children may choose not to talk to their father if that is their wish.
. . . .
[Former husband] has waived his right to Christmas visitation for the year 2004. After Christmas 2004, visitation with the two younger children shall continue as previously ordered. The oldest child may choose not to visit if that is her desire.

In the interim, in compliance with the Florida modified visitation order, the former husband purchased airplane tickets for the children to visit him in Florida over the Christmas holidays. The former husband gave the former wife a copy of the children's itinerary, but she did not send them to visit the former husband, contending that the North Dakota court had determined that the former husband had "waived" his Christmas visit.

The former husband then filed a motion to enforce the visitation order and sought sanctions against the former wife. Because of the North Dakota protection order, the former wife filed a motion to stay the enforcement proceeding to consider the former husband's motion for contempt and enforcement of the final judgment, and to determine jurisdiction. In her motion, the former wife argued that two proceedings were pending in different states concerning the custodial rights of the parties; therefore, the trial court should communicate with the North Dakota court to determine jurisdiction under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ("UCCJEA"),[1] and the trial court should afford the North Dakota protective order full faith and credit. After a hearing on the motions, the Florida court denied the former wife's motion to determine jurisdiction, reasoning that since the North Dakota judge did not contact him as required under the UCCJEA, the courts of Florida had not relinquished jurisdiction, and jurisdiction over child custody still remained in Florida. The trial judge determined that the former husband was entitled to make up visitation to compensate for the missed Christmas visit. This appeal followed.

The former wife contends that the trial court erred in failing to afford North Dakota's domestic violence protective order against the former husband full faith and credit under 18 U.S.C.A. § 2265 (2005). The former wife argues that the federal full faith and credit statute preempts any conflicting Florida statutes, including section 61.515, Florida Statutes (2005), which grants Florida courts exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over its child custody decisions.

*743 The United States Code Annotated provides, in pertinent part:

(a) Full faith and credit.—Any protection order issued that is consistent with subsection (b) of this section by the court of one State or Indian tribe (the issuing State or Indian tribe) shall be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State or Indian tribe (the enforcing State or Indian tribe) and enforced as if it were the order of the enforcing State or tribe.
(b) Protection order.—A protection order issued by a State or tribal court is consistent with this subsection if—
(1) such court has jurisdiction over the parties and matter under the law of such State or Indian tribe; and
(2) reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard is given to the person against whom the order is sought sufficient to protect that person's right to due process. In the case of ex parte orders, notice and opportunity to be heard must be provided within the time required by State or tribal law, and in any event within a reasonable time after the order is issued, sufficient to protect the respondent's due process rights.

18 U.S.C.A. § 2265 (2005). According to the former wife's petition for protection, the most recent incident of abuse occurred in North Dakota. We find that since the alleged abuse occurred in North Dakota, the courts of that state had jurisdiction over the parties to issue an order for protection relating to the incident. The former husband appeared by telephone at the hearing on the former wife's motion for protective relief and was given a reasonable opportunity to be heard in compliance with 18 U.S.C.A. § 2265. Consequently, we conclude that the provisions of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2265 have been satisfied, and North Dakota's domestic violence protective order was entitled to full faith and credit.

However, since the protective order affected Florida's initial custody determination, the protective order is also governed, in part, by the UCCJEA. See § 61.503(4), Fla. Stat. (2005) (defining a "child custody proceeding" to include any proceeding involving protection from domestic violence, in which child custody is an issue).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
921 So. 2d 740, 2006 WL 359673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steckler-v-steckler-fladistctapp-2006.