2D11-5714 / Fazzaro v. Fazzaro

State: Florida

Court: Florida Southern District Court

Docket No: 2D11-5714

Case Date: 03/08/2013

Plaintiff: 2D11-5714 / Fazzaro

Defendant: Fazzaro

Preview:NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT CHRISTOPHER M. FAZZARO, ) ) Appellant, ) ) v. ) ) KRISTIN E. FAZZARO, ) ) Appellee. ) ________________________________ ) Opinion filed March 8, 2013. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pinellas County; Bruce Boyer, Judge. Virginia R. Vetter, Tampa, for Appellant. K. Dean Kantaras and Jennifer H. Cavill of K. Dean Kantaras, P.A., Palm Harbor (withdrew after briefing), for Appellee. Kristin E. Fazzaro, pro se.

Case No. 2D11-5714

NORTHCUTT, Judge. Christopher Fazzaro appeals the final judgment dissolving his marriage to Kristin Fazzaro. We agree that the trial court abused its discretion by giving Ms. Fazzaro final decision-making authority over matters involving the parties' minor child, and we reverse on this issue.

The parties were married in 1999, and they have one minor child. In the final judgment, the trial court found that it was in the child's best interests for the parties to exercise shared parental responsibility, and the court ordered them to do so. But the final judgment further provided that Ms. Fazzaro "shall have final decision-making authority should the parties be unable to reach an agreement on matters pertaining to the minor child." Time-sharing was ordered in accordance with an attached parenting plan, which also provided for shared parental responsibility. But like the final judgment, it granted sole authority to Ms. Fazzaro if the parents are unable to agree, although it limited her ultimate authority to the areas of "Education/Academic decisions" and "Nonemergency health care." Under the parenting and time-sharing statute, shared parental responsibility is preferred unless it would be contrary to the child's best interests.

Download 2D11-5714.pdf