02-0644 MARIN V. MARIN

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 02-0644 MARIN V. MARIN

Case Date: 04/16/2003

Preview:NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF. IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JANUARY TERM, A.D. 2003 ORLANDO MARIN, Appellant, vs. MARIA E. MARIN, Appellee. ** ** ** ** ** CASE NO. 3D02-644 00-24518

LOWER TRIBUNAL NO.

Opinion filed April 16, 2003. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Maynard A. Gross, Judge. Marilyn Colon and Maribel Mendoza, for appellant. Simon Schwartz, for appellee. Before GODERICH, SHEVIN, and RAMIREZ, JJ. RAMIREZ, J. Orlando Marin appeals the entry of a partial final judgment of dissolution of marriage, and appellee Maria E. Marin cross-appeals the entry of the final judgment. partial final judgment in We reverse the portion of the the trial court reserved

which

jurisdiction to award alimony and attorney's fees because these claims were never pled, and affirm the judgments in all other

respects. The parties married on March 17, 1972 and divorced on

September 18, 1979 in Cuba. remarried in Cuba.1

On September 22, 1979, the parties

In 1980, the parties relocated to Florida,

resided together until July of 1987, and became the parents of Jeanette Melissa Marin. Marin. On January 28, 2002, the trial court entered a Partial Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, dissolving the parties' In 1996, the husband married Rosa Caridad

marriage and reserving jurisdiction on the issues of distribution of marital assets, child support, retroactive child support,

alimony, retroactive alimony, attorney's fees, costs and suit monies. Prior to the entry of the partial final judgment, the

trial court struck the husband's pleadings and entered a default judgment against him. On February 12, 2002, the trial court

entered a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. A party against whom a default is entered can only be said to have admitted the well-pleaded facts and to have acquiesced in the relief specifically prayed for. 2d 746, 748 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). See Williams v. Williams, 227 So. See also Freeman v. Freeman, 447

So. 2d 963, 964 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)(it is error to award relief that is not sought). The husband, however, alleged that the parties never remarried and that their marriage dissolved in Cuba on September 18, 1979. 2
1

The wife in this case did not plead entitlement to alimony or attorney's fees, and merely prayed for divorce and pleaded grounds in support. The trial court thus exceeded its jurisdiction. To

hold otherwise deprives the husband of due process. 227 So. 2d at 748.

See Williams,

Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded.

3

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