Susan Jennings v. Jose E. Arenas Fredes ( 2021 )


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  •           FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
    STATE OF FLORIDA
    _____________________________
    Nos. 1D20-3726
    1D21-0020
    _____________________________
    SUSAN JENNINGS,
    Appellant,
    v.
    JOSE E. ARENAS FREDES,
    Appellee.
    _____________________________
    On appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County.
    Barbara K. Hobbs, Judge.
    September 22, 2021
    ROWE, C.J.
    Susan Jennings appeals an order amending for a second time
    the parenting plan entered after the dissolution of her marriage to
    Jose Arenas Fredes. Jennings argues that the trial court erred by:
    (1) not affording her due process during the final hearing,
    (2) determining timesharing of the parties’ two minor children
    using a prospective-based analysis, and (3) calculating child
    support. We affirm the first issue. We reverse as to the other two.
    After Jennings petitioned to dissolve the marriage, the parties
    agreed to roughly equal timesharing of their children in a
    temporary marital settlement agreement. Soon after, Jennings
    petitioned to relocate with the children to South Carolina. The
    court denied her petition and ordered the parties to remain in
    Florida. Even so, Jennings and Fredes later agreed that Jennings
    could take the children to South Carolina. But they did not agree
    for how long. Jennings moved to South Carolina with the children.
    After relocating, she refused to allow Fredes to exercise
    timesharing with the children. Fredes sought relief in the trial
    court. The court granted Fredes majority timesharing with the
    children. The children were to reside with him in Tallahassee
    during the school year. The court granted Jennings majority
    timesharing with the children for the summer.
    The dissolution proceeded to a final hearing. Following the
    hearing, the trial court entered an order awarding Fredes majority
    timesharing during the school year, with Jennings having
    timesharing one weekend each month, six weeks during the
    summer, and during certain holidays. The court also included a
    conditional timesharing provision that would apply should
    Jennings decide to relocate to Tallahassee. The court ordered
    Fredes to pay child support arrears to Jennings. It ordered
    Jennings to begin paying child support in October 2020. This
    timely appeal follows.
    Jennings first argues that the trial court deprived her of due
    process during the final hearing by not giving her attorney enough
    time to cross-examine Fredes and by not allowing her to present
    her witnesses’ testimony. We review de novo “[w]hether a violation
    of due process has occurred under a given set of facts.” Dep’t of
    Revenue ex rel. Thorman v. Holley, 
    86 So. 3d 1199
    , 1204 (Fla. 1st
    DCA 2012). We are hampered in our review of Jennings’ due
    process claim because she did not provide a transcript of the final
    hearing. Without an adequate record, we cannot “properly resolve
    the underlying factual issues” raised by Jennings on appeal.
    Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 
    377 So. 2d 1150
    , 1152
    (Fla. 1979) (“In appellate proceedings the decision of a trial court
    has the presumption of correctness and the burden is on the
    appellant to demonstrate error.”). Because the record is
    inadequate to show reversible error by the trial court, we affirm as
    to Jennings’ due process argument. See 
    id.
    Next, Jennings argues that the trial court reversibly erred by
    engaging in a prospective-based analysis in determining
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    timesharing. We review an order on timesharing for an abuse of
    discretion. Canakaris v. Canakaris, 
    382 So. 2d 1197
    , 1203 (Fla.
    1980). Here, the trial court ordered a long-distance timesharing
    plan. But the court also provided for a local timesharing plan that
    would apply if one of the parties relocated in the future and if the
    parties resided within fifty miles of one another.
    The trial court abused its discretion by including this
    provisional award of timesharing. Under section 61.13001(3),
    Florida Statutes (2020), unless the parents of a minor child agree,
    a parent seeking to relocate more than fifty miles from their
    current residence must petition the court for approval. The court
    must determine at the time of the final hearing whether the
    relocation is in the child’s best interest. Arthur v. Arthur, 
    54 So. 3d 454
    , 459 (Fla. 2010). The trial court’s award of timesharing based
    on Jennings’ potential relocation in the future was not a present
    determination of the children’s best interests, but a prospective-
    based analysis. See Amiot v. Olmstead, 46 Fla. L. Weekly D1074
    (Fla. 1st DCA May 11, 2021) (holding that the trial court abused
    its discretion by including a conditional timesharing provision that
    would come into play if one of the parties relocated). Thus, we
    reverse and remand for the court to strike the conditional local
    timesharing plan from its order.
    Last, Jennings argues that the court erred when it calculated
    current and retroactive child support because it failed to include
    Fredes’ Veterans’ Administration disability benefits as income. We
    review this issue for an abuse of discretion. Brown v. Brown, 
    180 So. 3d 1070
    , 1072 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). We find no reversible error
    in the trial court’s calculation of retroactive child support, but we
    do find error in the trial court’s calculation of current child support.
    In his 2020 financial affidavit, Fredes listed his monthly gross
    income as $5,416. He listed his current monthly disability
    payments as $575.69. Even so, the trial court calculated Fredes’
    monthly income as $5,416, overlooking the monthly disability
    benefits. As Fredes properly concedes, the trial court abused its
    discretion by not including the disability benefits in Fredes’
    monthly gross income. Gross income includes disability payments.
    See § 61.30(2)(a)4., Fla. Stat. (2020). Thus, we reverse and remand
    for the court to recalculate the current child support award.
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    As to the trial court’s calculation of retroactive child support,
    we affirm the trial court’s order because the record lacks any
    evidence showing that Fredes received VA disability benefits
    before 2020.
    AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.
    OSTERHAUS and WINOKUR, JJ., concur.
    _____________________________
    Not final until disposition of any timely and
    authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
    9.331.
    _____________________________
    Susan Jennings, pro se, Appellant.
    Trudy E. Innes Richardson of Trudy Innes Richardson, PLLC,
    Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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