CopyCited 92 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...The trial judge granted the motion and ordered the father to pay all arrearages with interest and to pay the $100.00 per week for child support until the "children" attain the age of 21 years. The court of appeal affirmed and in doing so construed Chapter 73-21, Laws of Florida, 1973, (F.S. 743.07) which reduced the age of majority from 21 to 18, and made other provisions for the transition of the change, effective July 1, 1973....
CopyCited 45 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3225, 2000 WL 289604
...Similarly, in Florida, children do not have capacity to sue at age six. Under Florida law, a "minor" is any person under age eighteen. See Fla. Stat. Ann. §
1.01(13) (West 1999). As a general rule, minors are bound by a statutory "disability of nonage," see, e.g., Fla. Stat. Ann. §
743.07(1) (West 2000), which curtails certain rights....
CopyCited 37 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 99 A.L.R. 3d 316
...or mental deficiencies. Perla v. Perla, supra. Annot., Parent's Obligation to Support Adult Child, 1 A.L.R.2d 910 (1948). Under Florida law, the disability resulting from non-age is removed for those children who are eighteen years of age or older. Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (Supp. 1977). However, subsection (2) of Section 743.07 provides: "This act shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years." Thus, in enacting Section 743.07, the legislature clearly did not intend that the lowering of the age of majority from twenty-one, as under former law, to eighteen would act as a bar to a court of competent jurisdiction in awarding support for a dependent child....
...Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla. 1975). However, in a dissolution proceeding, the legislature saw fit to specify an additional requirement to that imposed by Section
61.13; namely, that the adult child in order to receive support must be dependent. Thus, when reading Section
743.07 in pari materia with Section
61.13, it is clear that before a court in a dissolution proceeding may order support for an adult child, it must find (1) that the parent owes a duty of support, and (2) that the child is dependent upon that parent for such support....
CopyCited 26 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...[7] The same event that removes the child's disability its arrival at the age of majority is usually the same event that terminates the parents' duty to support. Hence, the problem of an emancipated child suing his or her parent for nonsupport would normally never arise. However, the enactment of section 743.07(3), Florida Statutes (1973), allows such a result. Section 743.07(3) does not affect rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973, and the father's prior duty of support is therefore not affected. However, the effect of section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes (1973), is to remove the disability of nonage of persons who are 18 years of age [8] and enables them to enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges and obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older....
...It is well established that separation agreements and dissolution judgments effective before July 1, 1973, which require child support payments until a child is twenty-one or until he attains his "majority" are enforceable until the child reaches the age of twenty-one (21). Section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes (1973), which changed the age of "majority" to eighteen (18), has no effect on the rights and obligations of parties under a dissolution judgment, prior to its effective date....
...nts because she was the custodial parent of the non-emancipated children, and because she was a party to the agreement which is the source of Van Dyke's obligations. Neither her right to enforce nor Van Dyke's obligation to pay should be affected by section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes (1973)....
CopyCited 25 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 11893, 2000 WL 1345513
...rming the relationship. For example, the requirement that a domestic partner be at least 18 is more akin to the minimum age for the capacity to contract than it is a hallmark of a marriage. Compare BROWARD CO., FLA.CODE § 16½-153(b)(1) (1999) with § 743.07(1), Fla....
CopyCited 24 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1988 WL 110770
...(1987), or purchase or possess alcoholic beverages, §
562.11, Fla. Stat. (1987). Nor may he or she attend jai alai or a dog race, compare § 550.04 with § 551.03, Fla. Stat. (1987), dispose of property by will, §
732.501, Fla. Stat. (1987), enter into a contract, compare §
743.01 with §
743.07, Fla. Stat. (1987), or sue or be sued. Compare §
743.01 with §
743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 20 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1999 WL 506966
...(1987), or purchase or possess alcoholic beverages, §
562.11, Fla. Stat. (1987). Nor may he or she attend jai alai or a dog race, compare § 550.04 with § 551.03, Fla. Stat. (1987), dispose of property by will, §
732.501, Fla. Stat. (1987), enter into a contract, compare §
743.01 with §
743.07, Fla. Stat. (1987), or sue or be sued. Compare §
743.01 with §
743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 19 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2001 WL 43014
...ing. If it is established that the child will be in her senior year at the time she turns 18, the trial court should either award child support until the date she graduates or set forth findings of fact explaining why such relief is denied. Although section 743.07 of the Florida Statutes (1999) gives the trial court discretion whether to award extended child support beyond the age of 18, if the child is dependant in fact and reasonably expected to graduate before the age of 19, the denial of such support should be the exception rather than the rule. As the Fourth District has explained, since children who are still attending high school at age 18 are in need of financial support, section 743.07(2) of the Florida Statutes should be interpreted liberally in order to provide such support, thereby mitigating any potential harm to the child resulting from the lack of support....
CopyCited 16 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...his suit. Florida courts have recognized the rule that a parent has a continuing legal duty to support an adult incompetent or otherwise dependent child. See Perla v. Perla,
58 So.2d 689 (Fla. 1952); Kern v. Kern,
360 So.2d 482 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1981), provides that a court may require parental support for a dependent child after it attains the age of majority....
CopyCited 15 times | Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24111, 2002 WL 31940726
...is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether or not her consent extended to the Defendants' wide-spread publication of her image. a. Lane's Capacity to Consent In support of her argument of lack of capacity to consent, Lane cites to Fla. Stat. § 743.07, [37] which removes the disabilities of a minor at the age of 18, and *1216 Fla....
...[30] See generally Doc. No. 32. [31] See generally id. [32] See generally id. [33] See id., ¶ 57, at 10. [34] See generally Doc. No. 48; Doc. No. 54; Doc. No. 72; and Doc. No. 90. [35] See generally Doc. No. 48. [36] See generally Doc. No. 62. [37] Fla. Stat. § 743.07 provides "[t]he disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older except as...
CopyCited 15 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...(1975). Both decedents' estates as well as Dawn's guardianship estate were commenced under the Florida Probate Act of 1933 as amended and prior to substantial amendments to the Florida Guardianship Law, all of which became effective January 1, 1976. [2] § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 14 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...is opinion could be said to have declined to follow the reasoning of Judge Boyer in White v. White, supra. However, it is apparent that any determination of the requirement that a father support his emancipated child beyond the age of 18 was because § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 13 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...3d DCA 1983), that a mother had both the right and standing to enforce, pursuant to the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, child support obligations of the father which had accrued after the children turned eighteen. The parties in Massey had agreed, prior to the effective date of section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973) (removing the disability of non-age for all persons 18 years of age or older), that the father would pay child support until the parties' children reached age twenty-one....
...he appellee in contempt, and the cause is remanded for an adjudication of the child support arrearages claimed by appellant. [3] Reversed and remanded. NOTES [1] "Limbo" dissolution decrees are those rendered prior to July 1, 1973 [effective date of § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 13 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...Of course, today a parent's duty of support to the minor child remains unchanged. However, the age of majority has changed. On July 1, 1973, Chapter 73-21, Laws of Florida, went into effect. It lowered the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen. §
1.01(14), Fla. Stat. (1979). It also created Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1979), which reads as follows: *502 (1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligatio...
...entitled to the support of $115 per month from his father. The judge observed that he believed the boy to be entitled to a college education at the expense of his parents. On these facts, the appellate court reversed and held that the provisions of Section 743.07(1) which emancipated eighteen year olds prevented a court from ordering a parent to provide support for the college education of his eighteen year old children. The court also ruled that Section 743.07(2) which allowed a court to order support for dependent adult children referred only to adult children who were mentally or physically handicapped and not to those who simply were without independent means of support. Finally, the court held that Section 743.07(3) which provided that the other provisions of Section 743.07 would not affect rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973, was not applicable because the orders of the trial court had set no termination date and thus had not obligated the father to pay support until age twenty-one. Judge McCord dissented from the majority opinion in White. He expressed the view that Section 743.07(3) was applicable to the case and that in any event, Section 743.07 did not automatically cut off the responsibility of a parent to provide a college education for a child eighteen years of age....
...ally or mentally handicapped. The court granted the mother's motion and ordered the father to pay all arrearages and to pay the $100 a week child support until the children attained the age of twenty-one. The supreme court affirmed, [2] holding that Section 743.07(3) prevented Section 743.07(1) from applying to the facts of the case since the final judgment had been rendered prior to its effective date and had impliedly extended the duration of legal dependency until the boys reached age twenty-one. Because of this holding, it would not have been necessary for the supreme court to go further as had the court in White to determine whether Section 743.07 cut off a parent's obligation of support at age eighteen in all cases....
CopyCited 12 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 1992 WL 158125
...nder an existing order of support.... [2] This is a "limbo" dissolution judgment as described in my dissent in Cronebaugh because it predates the statutory change in 1973 of the age of majority in Florida from twenty-one years to eighteen years. See § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 11 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...He relies on Perla v. Perla,
58 So.2d 689 (Fla. 1952). However since that case was decided, the Florida Legislature passed Florida's "No-Fault" Dissolution Law, Chapter 61, and many revisions thereto, and Chapter 743 relating to "Disability of Nonage." Section
743.07(2) of the Florida Statutes provides that the reduction of the age of majority to 18 years shall not prohibit " any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years." (Emphasis supplied)....
...For these reasons, the order of the lower court under review is affirmed. AFFIRMED. DAUKSCH, C.J., and COBB, J., concur. NOTES [1] At the time the Judgment was entered, the "disability of nonage" or age of majority had been changed from 21 years to 18 years. § 743.07(1), Fla....
CopyCited 10 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1988 WL 135340
...s eighteen years old, but made no finding of dependency as to the child. Since the judgment was entered, this court has held that the legal obligation of support ends upon a child's reaching his or her majority, unless he is dependent as provided in section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1985)....
CopyCited 9 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1997 WL 536010
...arrearages; denied the former wife's claim for equitable distribution; denied both parties' claims for attorney's fees, suit money, and costs; and obligated the former wife to pay child support until the child reached the age of nineteen pursuant to section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1995)....
...Finally, the trial court determined child support obligations based on a $60,000 income for the father and an imputed income of $12,000 for the mother, stating the mother's obligation to pay child support would continue until the child reached the age of 18, or pursuant to section 743.07, was still in high school and reasonably expected to graduate before the age of 19....
...ent extending the termination of child support payments until the minor child reaches the age of nineteen or graduates from high school. Should such a provision be considered on remand, we note the subject provision accurately tracks the language of section 743.07(2), and is therefore appropriate....
CopyCited 9 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., etc., et al., reported at
323 So.2d 301 (Fla.App. 3rd 1975). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(3), Constitution of Florida. The Circuit Court certified the following question to the District Court of Appeal, Third District: "Whether § 1[.01](14) or §
743.07, Florida Statutes, purport to and/or expressly or impliedly repeal or amend the provisions of §§
768.16-768.27, Florida Statutes, so as to change the definition *12 of the word `minor' contained in the latter statutes to mean `any unmarri...
...e same time; this would be a contradiction of terms. Thus, an 18 year old has no legal obligation within the family and, as such, has no legal benefit of support.' We agree that the posited question should be answered in the affirmative. Section *13 743.07, Florida Statutes (Ch. 73-21, Laws of Florida), provides: "743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older....
CopyCited 9 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...both children is affirmed. In all other respects the opinion of this Court issued July 25, 1979, is confirmed. DOWNEY, C.J., and CROSS, SPENCER C., and DAUKSCH, JAMES C., Associate Judges, concur. NOTES [1] Ball v. Ball,
335 So.2d 5 (Fla. 1976). [2] §
743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 9 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2005 WL 3234411
...5th DCA 2003). [2] The remaining issues involving the seatbelt defense, the jury's allocation of fault, allegedly improper remarks during closing arguments and jury instructions lack merit. [3] The age of majority was reduced to eighteen years in 1973. § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...ave attained majority. We agree. We are not confronted here with a situation such as in Finn v. Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla. 1975), and Owens v. Owens,
415 So.2d 855 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), where a final judgment was granted prior to the effective date of section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1981), [1] with the child reaching majority *260 sometime thereafter....
...See Cronebaugh v. Van Dyke,
415 So.2d 738 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). The lower court order is affirmed in all other respects. *261 AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; and REMANDED. SHARP, J., and SMITH, C. McFERRIN, III, Associate Judge, concur. NOTES [1] Section
743.07 provides as follows: (1) The disability of non-age is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligations of all persons 21 years of age...
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1995 WL 480677
...Until the child reaches majority, the law of the state of Florida imposes on a parent the obligation to support his or her minor children. See §
61.13(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (1993) (court may order any parent who owes duty of support to a child to pay support in accordance with guidelines in §
61.30); and §
743.07(2), Fla....
...umstances in the needs and abilities of the parties. But the law does not independently impose on parents the duty of supporting their healthy, non-dependent children who have reached the age of majority. Grapin v. Grapin,
450 So.2d 853 (Fla. 1984); §
743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...This is an appeal from an order denying appellant's petition for modification of a child support award. Modification was sought on the sole basis that the child, although arriving at age eighteen, was still in high school and thus "dependent" within the purview of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1981)....
...Respondent THOMAS P. KEENAN's Motion to Terminate Support Payments for DANIEL SCOTT KEENAN be and the same is hereby granted and Respondent's legal obligation to contribute to the support of DANIEL SCOTT KEENAN is terminated effective immediately. Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973) was made effective July 1, 1973 and reduced the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen....
...eighteen become effective), and both Finn and Owens were bottomed on the proposition that final judgments of divorce rendered when the age of majority was twenty-one would continue to require support to age twenty-one, regardless of the amendment to section 743.07 reducing the age of majority to eighteen....
...5th DCA 1982), we held that a healthy, intelligent, part-time employed eighteen year old who was in the process of completing his final year of high school, but who was necessitous of continuing parental support in order to be able to complete his high school education, was a dependent child within the meaning of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1981)....
...Nicolay,
387 So.2d 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980), and the famous dictum in Finn v. Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla. 1975), [1] I think a normal child seeking to complete high school, who cannot do so without parental support is "dependent" within the meaning of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1981), because without a high school diploma in today's job market, such young person is at such a great disadvantage, he or she might as well be mentally retarded or physically handicapped....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...The property settlement agreement incorporated into the June 29, 1973 final judgment provided that Michael pay $1,200 per month for the support of the minor children and "said support and maintenance will continue until the children have reached the age of 21 years ..." § 743.07, Fla. Stat. (effective July 1, 1973) lowering the attainment of majority status from 21 to 18 years of age having only prospective application [§ 743.07(3), Fla....
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1997 WL 529734
...sted that the Florida court refuse jurisdiction. Alan moved for judgment on the pleadings and, on July 19, 1996, the trial court granted Alan's motion and terminated his child support obligations as of March 25, 1995, Ryan's eighteenth birthday. See § 743.07(1), Fla....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 333425
...The husband was ordered to pay monthly child support in the amount of $649.00, which support was ordered to be continued beyond the child's eighteenth birthday due to his special needs, and to continue until the trial court determines that he is no longer dependent within the meaning of section 743.07, Florida Statutes....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2014 WL 949850, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 3503
...ins continuing exclusive jurisdiction to modify its custody orders, including visitation privileges, until such time as the minor children reach their majority). The trial court does, however, have continuing jurisdiction under sections
61.13(1) and
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2012), to order support for Alexander, despite his having reached adulthood, because of his mental and physical incapacity....
...Section
61.13(l)(a)l.a., provides that "the court may at any time order either or both parents who owe a duty of support to a child to pay support to the other parent,” and this duty ceases after the "child’s eighteenth birthday unless the court finds or previously found that s.
743.07(2) applies, or is otherwise agreed to by the parties.” In turn, section
743.07(2) empowers the court to require support "for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity .......
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...Where the child born has substantial mental or physical defects, the tortfeasor physician will be liable in damages for the special medical and educational expenses, as opposed to normal rearing costs, *201 associated with raising such a child to majority, which in Florida is age 18. § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 1223083
...e cut-off date of 28 September 2001, which was specified in the stipulation. The trial court found that a literal reading of paragraph seven of the stipulation would result in a forfeiture of Devon's right to claim support as a dependent adult under section 743.07, Florida Statutes, because no order of extension was entered prior to Devon's eighteenth birthday....
...upport, citing Ruiz v. Ruiz,
783 So.2d 361 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001) and distinguishing Brown v. Brown,
714 So.2d 475 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). The court ordered the father "to continue to contribute support" for Devon after her eighteenth birthday pursuant to section
743.07, Florida Statutes....
...dgment to support Devon be entered before her eighteenth birthday, or whether an independent action must be filed. First, both parents have a legal obligation to support Devon past her eighteenth birthday because she is dependent and will remain so. Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, provides that a court of competent jurisdiction can require parents to support a dependent child past the age of eighteen....
...I agree with the result reached by Judge Thompson and his recognition that the right to support belongs to the child and not the mother. Once Devon reached eighteen years of age, she or a guardian, appointed pursuant to chapter 744, Florida Statutes (2002), were the only individuals authorized to seek support under section 743.07, Florida Statutes (2002). The mother had no continuing right to directly receive Devon's section 743.07 payments for support without the safeguards of, and accountability required by the guardianship statutes....
...y interests to be titled? Finally, section
744.301, Florida Statutes (2002), provides that parents are natural guardians of their children during minority. It is my view that the mother lost all authority to represent Devon's interest or enforce any section
743.07 support when Devon reached majority. Only Devon or a guardian appointed pursuant to chapter 744, Florida Statutes, has the right to seek *711 section
743.07 support against either or both the mother and father after majority was attained....
...that they were not taken and should not be supplied after the fact. TORPY, J., dissenting. I disagree with the result reached by the majority and, therefore, respectfully dissent. Clearly, Devon has a substantive right under common law (preserved by section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2001)) to continued support beyond the age of majority....
...mforted, because, for Devon, this is clearly a case of justice delayed being justice denied. I would affirm. NOTES [1] During a turbulent period in the mother's life, Devon lived with the father and subsequently returned to live with the mother. [2] 743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...The child of the parties, Robin Dawn Brown, born August 5, 1968, is an adult child with an approximate mental age of six years old and is physically and mentally unable to care for herself. 2. Said disability occurred prior to the Final Judgment of Divorce dated December 10, 1970. 3. Florida Statutes § 743.07(2) and (3) applies in the instant case....
...t is erroneous. Both the common law and statutory law impose upon a parent a duty of support for an adult dependent child who, because of mental or physical incapacity beginning prior to the child reaching majority, is unable to support herself. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
...I respectfully dissent because I believe the dissolution court has continuing jurisdiction under §
61.13. [1] Although the statutes are unclear on this issue, only chapter 61 gives the trial court authority [2] to order support for family members. Section
743.07(2) merely reaffirms a dependent adult child's right to such support....
...hild, when the child reaches majority, or when there is a substantial change of circumstances of the parties. (emphasis supplied) Chapter 61 also contains provisions for support which are unconnected with a dissolution. §§
61.09;
61.10, Fla. Stat. Section
743.07(2), cited in the majority opinion and relied on by the trial court, does not contain language which authorizes a court to order support for adult dependent children. The chapter, entitled "Disability of Nonage of Minors Removed," pertains to emancipation of minors. Specifically section
743.07(1), which became effective on July 1, 1973 and which is relevant to "in limbo" dissolution decrees, [4] removes the disability of nonage for persons 18 years of age or older, a change from earlier statutory law which provided that a person reached majority at the age of 21....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2008 WL 53547
...a day before. [3] Accordingly, we hold that section
61.30(17) permits a claim for retroactive child support even if the petitioning spouse waits until the child is a legal adult to obtain this payment. This section may also work in conjunction with section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2005), to effectively further extend a parent's standing to seek retroactive support. Under section
743.07(2), a court may order support for a child who is over eighteen, dependent in fact, and is still attending high school and performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of nineteen....
...We conclude that a spouse seeking child support in a dissolution action that is filed after a child reaches the age of majority is generally entitled to support only for those months within the preceding twenty-four months when the child was a minor or qualified for support under section 743.07(2)....
...s after the older child reached majority. As to the older child, the Wife cannot seek any retroactive child *250 support because the child was over the age of nineteen during the twenty-four months preceding the petition, meaning the requirements of section 743.07(2) also would not apply. To the extent the trial court concluded the Wife could not seek retroactive support for the younger child, however, the trial court erred. It is unclear from this record whether the younger child meets the requirements of section 743.07(2) such that the Wife may have had some entitlement to ongoing child support at the date of filing....
...She also asked for continued payment of the children's health insurance premiums until they were twenty-one. There is no question that the Wife cannot seek payment of the children's health insurance beyond the age of eighteen, with the possible exception of the short period provided for in section 743.07(2)....
...ropriate child support calculation, and the award of child support should be made retroactive to December 12, 2003, continuing until the child's eighteenth birthday, unless it should be extended to the child's graduation from high school pursuant to section 743.07(2)....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2003 WL 141776
...pay support for his 50-year-old son, who has an autism-related, chronic condition (Asperger's syndrome) for which he began receiving treatment at age 8. [2] The mother and the son counter-petitioned for the establishment of support for the son under Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, a savings clause enacted when the disability of nonage was removed for persons 18 years of age and over. [3] Section 743.07(2) reads in pertinent part: "This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority ..." [4] By this enactment the legislature did not create a right or a cause of action, but "saved" any common law right or cause of action from extinction by section 743.07(1)....
...of attaining majority is a question to be determined by the court at the time of the minor's attaining majority. These cases, however, were not meant to apply to situations as the instant one. Cyr and Baldi dealt with the statutory nonage change of section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes and whether child support should be to age 18 or to age 21....
...g of Baldi, however, the opinion neither evaluates nor interprets the statutory nonage change. Rather, Baldi proves to be particularly instructive in the instant case. In the portion of Baldi that is pertinent here, this Court quoted the language of Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, [5] which stated that the statute did "not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years ..."....
...NOTES [1] The age of majority at that time. See, e.g., Baldi v. Baldi,
323 So.2d 592 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). [2] The mother supported the parties' dependent son by herself from the time the son was 21 until recently when she became unable to continue doing so. [3] By Section
743.07(1), Fla. Stat. (effective July 1, 1973). [4] Our decision here is limited to those situations in which the dependent person became mentally or physically incapacitated prior to her or his reaching majority. [5] The substance of the current Section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes, is the same as it existed at the time of the Baldi opinion....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1995 WL 71349
...if it is shown that the person was a child at the time the offense was committed, the court shall forthwith transfer the case * * * to the appropriate court for proceeding under this chapter. * * * * * * * * * "(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 743.07, [6] when the jurisdiction of any child who is alleged to have committed a delinquent act is obtained, the court shall retain jurisdiction, unless relinquished by its order, until the child reaches 19 years of age, with the same power over the child that the court had prior to the child becoming an adult....
...[10] The state also argues that section 39.02(4) demonstrates that juvenile court jurisdiction had already terminated by the time these charges were filed, for defendant was then 22 years of age. That statute states: "Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 743.07, when the jurisdiction of any child who is alleged to have committed a delinquent act is obtained, the court shall retain jurisdiction, unless relinquished by its order, until the child reaches 19 years of age." § 39.02(4), Fla....
...imes took place. We also affirm the trial court's decisions on issues (b) through (f); any evidentiary errors the court may have made were harmless, especially because Griffith was found guilty of only those crimes he testified he had committed. [6] Section 743.07, then and now, provides that the disability of nonage is removed for persons 18 years of age or older, and that such persons shall have all of the rights, privileges and obligations of persons 21 years of age or older....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...nd to his high school studies... ." Appellant contends that he may not be required to provide support beyond the child's eighteenth birthday. We affirm the order appealed. In removing the general disabilities of nonage for persons of eighteen years, § 743.07, Fla....
...l infirmity. We conclude that legal dependency may be so predicated, and that in the present case the trial court did not err in finding that appellant's child, while pursuing a high school education, remains "a dependant person" within the ambit of § 743.07(2) so as to permit an award of continuing parental support beyond the child's eighteenth birthday....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 1997 WL 608685
...the former husband filed his motion for modification. We agree. Generally, a parent is not legally bound to support his or her children beyond the age of 18, unless the parent agrees to do so in a binding contract or unless one of the exceptions in section 743.07, Florida Statutes, [1] applies....
...s. As each child becomes emancipated, however, one can merely refer to the guideline table in order to see the appropriate amount of support for the remaining children. Without explanation, Hammond ignored the mandate of the legislature contained in section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes, which emancipates individuals once they reach the age of eighteen except under unusual circumstances....
...t obligation. Therefore, we believe that the better practice is to resort in a final judgment of dissolution of marriage to the general rule, with the understanding that a petition to modify may be filed should it subsequently appear that one of the section 743.07(2) exceptions is applicable....
...rminate support *1040 for an adult child and leave it to the receiving parent to seek modification if changed circumstances justify an increase in child support for the remaining children from that originally established by the guidelines. NOTES [1] 743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older * * * * * * (2) This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such de...
...acity which began prior to such person reaching majority or if the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19. § 743.07(2), Fla.Stat....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...eof should be paid by the wife. Turning to that portion of the judgment for child support, we hold that the trial court erred in providing child support beyond the age of 18 years, by way of money payments and right of occupancy of the home, because § 743.07(1), Fla....
...Stat., effective July 1, 1973, removed the disabilities of nonage for persons 18 years of age or older and provided that they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges and obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older. Todd v. Todd, Fla.App. 1975,
311 So.2d 769. We note, however, §
743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...the husband is able to show on a motion to modify under Section
61.14, Florida Statutes (1977), that the child has become married or self-supporting prior to the child's twenty-first birthday. We further hold that this result is in no way changed by Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1977), lowering the age of majority to eighteen because the statute by its express terms does not operate retroactively to change or alter child support awards made prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of the statute....
...uch son. The termination was based on the contention that the child support award under the prior divorce decree ended when the child became eighteen in view of an intervening statute effective July 1, 1973, lowering the age of majority to eighteen. § 743.07 Fla....
...The only method by which a husband may absolve himself of such obligation of support prior to the child reaching twenty-one is if he files a motion to modify under Section
61.14, Florida Statutes (1977), and is able to show that the child has since become married or self-supporting. This result is in no way changed by Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1977), lowering the age of majority to eighteen because the statute by its express terms does not operate retroactively to alter or change child support awards made prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of the statute....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...Generally, the obligation of a parent to support a child ceases when the child reaches majority, except when the child is unable to support himself because of physical or mental deficiencies. Perla v. Perla, Fla. 1952,
58 So.2d 689. Thus, prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of §
743.07, F.S. 1973, after a child reached 21 years of age, absent physical or mental disability, a parent would not be obligated to render support. With the passage of §
743.07, F.S., the age of majority was reduced to 18, but courts of competent jurisdiction were expressly authorized to require support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years....
...The recent case of Finn v. Finn, Fla. 1975,
312 So.2d 726, opinion filed March 26, 1975, seems to hold that dependency as a result of the bona fide pursuit of education may exist as to one between 18 and 21 years of age. However, we do not interpret either §
743.07, F.S., or the Finn case as authorizing a court to require a parent to support a child over 21 years of age, whether for educational purposes or otherwise, unless the child is dependent as a result of physical or mental deficiencies....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...September 1977 through April 1978. After hearing, the trial court entered an order denying the motion for contempt judgment for child support arrearages. This timely appeal followed. The law which governs this case is simple and is found embodied in Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973), as set forth below: "743.07 Rights, privileges and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older....
...The only method by which a husband may absolve himself of such obligation of support prior to the child reaching twenty-one is if he files a motion to modify under Section
61.14, Florida Statutes (1977), and is able to prove the child has since become married or self-supporting. This result was in no way changed by Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1973), lowering the age of majority to eighteen years, because the statute by its expressed terms does not operate retroactively to alter or change child support awards made prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of this statute....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1994 WL 391334
...and is still attending high school with reasonable expectation of graduation, child support shall continue for such child through the month of June following that child's 18th birthday." The former husband argues that this provision is at odds with section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1991), and Hunter v. Hunter,
626 So.2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). Section
743.07(2) provides that a court of competent jurisdiction is not prohibited from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 when such dependency is caused by mental or physical incapacity, or "if the person is dependent in...
...ween the ages of 18 and 19, and still is in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19." According to the former husband, the provision at issue in the amended final judgment is contrary to section 743.07(2)....
...I dissent because, in my view, the record does not reflect that the trial judge abused his discretion on this issue. BENTON, Judge, concurring and dissenting. With one small exception, I concur in the opinion of the court. In my opinion, the husband's point that the decree does not conform to section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1993) regarding child support after age eighteen is well taken....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...At a subsequent hearing, the chancellor on July 10, 1973 entered another final dissolution of marriage judgment reaffirming and republishing the February 28 judgment, and ordered Charles to pay $40 per week per child until further order of court. Ten days previous to the entry of this judgment, on July 1, 1973, Section 743.07, Florida Statutes became effective and lowered the age of majority from 21 to 18 years....
...ature on July 1, 1973 from 21 to 18 years and a final judgment for child support was entered on July 10, 1973 providing for child support payments until further order of court, the obligation to pay child support extends only to age 18. We disagree. Section 743.07(3), Florida Statutes (1973) clearly provides that it is to operative prospectively, not retrospectively and shall not affect obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...[2] For these reasons, we reverse the final order of the trial court in this cause and direct that the March 1978 New Jersey judgment be established, in its entirety, as a Florida decree. REVERSED. BOARDMAN and CAMPBELL, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] N.J. Rev. Stat. § 9:17B-3; § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 1882
...The father submits that a court may not require a parent to support a child beyond his eighteenth birthday simply because that child is still attending high school. We agree. The fact that a post-majority child is still attending high school does not make that child dependent within the meaning of section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1985)....
...tatutorily dependent. Although we may wish it otherwise, attendance at high school or college classes, resulting in economic dependence upon the parents, does not transform an *407 otherwise ineligible adult child into a dependent as contemplated by section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1985)....
...rmity. We conclude that legal dependency may be so predicated, and that in the present case the trial court did not err in finding that appellant's child, while pursuing a high school education, remains "a dependant [sic] person" within the ambit of § 743.07(2) so as to permit an award of continuing parental support beyond the child's eighteenth birthday....
...fication of child support for the parties' son Wade, who reached the age of eighteen prior to completing high school, and remand the cause for the trial court to determine whether Wade was a dependent person entitled to support within the meaning of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1983).[2] See Evans v. Evans,
456 So.2d 956 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); cf. Stultz v. Stultz,
504 So.2d 5 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Keenan v. Keenan,
440 So.2d 642 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983) ( en banc ). [2] Section
743.07 Fla. Stat. (1983), states:
743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older....
...§ 28-6-1 (1978). Children in high school regardless of age are generally dependent upon their parents for many or all of the basic necessities food, shelter, clothing and health care. I believe the legislature understood that reality in enacting section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1985), which provides: This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years; and any crippled child as defined in chapter 391...
...d desirous children. The majority opinion expands that view to include a high school education as well, when it need not have done so in light of the convincing rationale in Evans, coupled with a realistic interpretation of the legislative intent in section 743.07(2)....
CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 912663
...Ritter sought for the first time an upward deviation from the child support guidelines based upon the children's "[s]pecial needs, such as costs that may be associated with the disability of a child." §
61.30(11)(a)(8), Fla. Stat. (2001). Both parents agreed that their children were disabled within the meaning of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2001), and would require support beyond the age of majority....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2012 WL 5233621, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 18374
...On May 6, 2009, four months after M.S. turned eighteen years old, the Mother filed a supplemental petition for modification of child support. She asserted in the petition that M.S. was entitled to support until he graduated from high school, citing section 743.07, Florida Statutes (2008). She also *992 asserted that he had a physical incapacity, Cystic Fibrosis; that he required support; and that the incapacity began prior to his reaching the age of majority. She again cited to section 743.07....
...The trial court entered an order on March 23, 2011, that dismissed the supplemental petition for lack of jurisdiction. The court found that M.S. could “maintain a separate and independent action to seek support from his parents as an adult dependent child due to his mental or physical incapacity” pursuant to section 743.07(2)....
...t denied. They timely appealed the order dismissing the supplemental petition. The Mother and M.S. contend on appeal that the trial court erred in dismissing the supplemental petition for lack of jurisdiction based on the court’s interpretation of section 743.07(2). Section 743.07(1) removes the disability of nonage for persons eighteen years of age or older. However, section 743.07(2) provides as follows: (2) This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity...
...eighteen who would graduate from high school prior to his nineteenth birthday.” Id. Because the Department stood in the place of the former wife, this court determined that the Department had standing. Id. This court also stated that “nothing in section
743.07(2) suggests that the former wife’s ability to seek support for the dependent child terminated on that child’s eighteenth birthday.” Id.; see also Campagna v. Cope,
971 So.2d 243, 249 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (stating, in a dissolution case involving retroactive child support, that under section
743.07(2) “the parent can file a petition seeking child support up and until high school graduation for the appropriate eighteen-year-old child”); Henderson v. Henderson,
882 So.2d 499, 499-500 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (recognizing that section
743.07(2) is to be liberally construed to provide support and determining that the mother was entitled to seek the modification of child support when the parties’ eighteen-year-old-daughter was still in high school and had a reasonable expectation of graduating before her nineteenth birthday)....
...In addition, the Father does not dispute that M.S. has a physical incapacity which began before he turned eighteen. 1 We conclude that the trial court had jurisdiction to consider the supplemental petition seeking a modification of support pursuant to section 743.07(2)....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1993 WL 462702
...en "until such time as [each] child graduates from high school or attains the age of 19 years[,] whichever first occurs." Appellant correctly argues that this provision is improper. We presume that the child support provision was included because of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1991), which reads: This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physi...
...t obligation. Therefore, we believe that the better practice is to resort in a final judgment of dissolution of marriage to the general rule, with the understanding that a petition to modify may be filed should it subsequently appear that one of the section 743.07(2) exceptions is applicable....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 503755
...Because this determination had not yet been made, the record does not support this award. Accordingly, we reverse as to this issue. The Husband also claims, and the Wife concedes, that the language used in the second amended final judgment of dissolution does not properly track the language of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2000), which provides that child support may be extended only for those students who are dependent in fact between age eighteen and nineteen, who are still in high *612 school, and who are performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduating before age nineteen....
...In sum, we reverse and remand for recalculation of the permanent alimony award, the child support award, the award for Danielle's special education needs, the child support arrearages, and the attorney's fee award. We direct that the child *613 support provision properly reflect the directives contained in section 743.07(2)....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...Before the change in the law regarding the age of majority of a person in Florida this problem would hardly have arisen because it is rare that a healthy, intelligent not otherwise dependent child would not complete his high school education by age 21. The pertinent statute is section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1981): Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...support payments for children. Whether a child is a dependent beyond the age of 18 years should be determined by the court, if requested, at the time of attainment of majority by each child. Baldi v. Baldi,
323 So.2d 592 (Fla.3d DCA 1975). See also Section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1975)....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...BOYER, Judge. By appeal from a final judgment of dissolution of marriage the husband (appellant) asserts the following four alleged errors: (1) The trial court erred in declaring the *1187 parties' adult son a dependent within the meaning of Florida Statute 743.07(2) and in considering that dependency in awarding to the wife lump sum alimony; (2) the trial court erred in awarding the wife lump sum alimony in the amount of $63,000.00; (3) the trial court erred in requiring the husband to maintain life in...
...[5] In the final judgment, the trial judge determined that the son's lack of earning capacity was significantly due to his emotional trauma over the domestic discord of the parties and that he required substantial assistance. The court found that the son was a "dependent" person within the meaning of Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1975) in need of support for the next year or two rather than indefinitely....
...[13] Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith. [14] MILLS, J., concurs. [15] McCORD, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part. [16] McCORD, Chief Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part. [17] As to Point I, § 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1975), by which the Legislature removed the disability of nonage for all persons who are 18 years of age or older, provided in subsection (2) thereof, "This Act shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction fr...
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 1260013
...primarily substantive in nature and thus may not receive retroactive application. In this regard, appellant's reliance on Walworth v. Klauder,
615 So.2d 219 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993), is misplaced. In Klauder, the court found the thrust of the revision to section
743.07(2) was to clarify the extent and scope of a parent's obligation to pay child support past the child's eighteenth birthday....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 2896470
...sical incapacity beginning prior to the child reaching majority, is unable to support herself." Brown v. Brown,
714 So.2d 475, 477 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (citing Perla v. Perla,
58 So.2d 689 (Fla.1952)). If the adult child satisfies the requirements of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2004), then both parents may be responsible for support. We affirm without prejudice to the child's potential claim for support, pursuant to section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2004)....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1976 Fla. App. LEXIS 15359
...(2) The right of action as set forth in subsection (1) shall extend to and include actions ex contractu and ex delicto. [2] The Florida Supreme Court has recently held, in Hanley v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.,
334 So.2d 11 (Fla., 1976), that with the passage of §
743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...The government argues that the exception recognized in Davis applies only to the omitted claims of minor children and that John Hiatt does not qualify because he was nineteen at the time of his father’s death. The government claims that under Florida law the age of majority is eighteen. We recognize that under Fla.Stat. § 743.07(1), eighteen is recognized as the age of majority....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...At first blush, the Wilkes case appear [sic] to give credence to Mr. Gilman's position. However, the Court has also discovered the recent case of Burgdorf v. Burgdorf, [
372 So.2d 988] 2d D.C.A. 1979. The Burgdorf case discusses the question of the effect of F.S. Section
743.07 (enacted in 1973 and given prospective application from July 1, 1973, forward) in lowering the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen and found that the statute did not affect dissolutions entered prior to the statute. Since in the instant proceeding the dissolution and original child support provisions were entered long before the enactment of F.S. Section
743.07, it would appear from the rationale of the Burgdorf case that where as in this case the Mother seeks child support enforcement for a child not yet twenty-one years of age, contempt is an appropriate method of enforcement....
...The only method by a which a husband may absolve himself of such obligation of support prior to the child reaching twenty-one is if he files a motion to modify under Section
61.14, Florida Statutes (1977), and is able to prove the child has since become married or self-supporting. This result was in no way changed by Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1973), lowering the age of majority to eighteen years, because the statute by its expressed terms does not operate retroactively to alter or change child support awards made prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of this statute....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...In 1980 the Florida legislature amended section
562.11 to delete the word minor and substitute the phrase "persons under the age of nineteen" so that the statute now prohibits the selling, giving, or serving of alcoholic beverages to persons under nineteen years of age. During the same session, section
743.07, Florida Statutes (Supp....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1989 WL 27916
...Nevertheless, the trial court denied the wife's request both for increased child support and assistance in meeting his college expenses. The trial court also declared that the age of majority in this case would be twenty-one, apparently because the final judgment of dissolution predated the enactment of section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973) (reducing the age of majority to eighteen)....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 8584, 2009 WL 1874066
...that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. We affirm. The “child” in this case is now a legal adult residing in Kansas. Although the trial court properly awarded long-term child support in 1992 for this couple’s child pursuant to section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1992), it could not retain jurisdiction to resolve visitation issues concerning this child now that he is a legal adult and not a party to these proceedings....
...e visitation or custody disputes. The former husband appeals, arguing that the Florida court has jurisdiction indefinitely to enforce visitation between the couple as to this “special child” because it awarded long-term child support pursuant to section 743.07(2)....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1998 WL 347240
...Ann Porath, Wellington, for appellant. Timothy W. Gaskill of DeSantis, Gaskill, Smith & Shenkman, P.A., North Palm Beach, for appellee. PER CURIAM. Laura Boot, former wife, appeals an order denying a petition for modification of child support pursuant to section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes....
...According to the former wife, the twins will complete twelfth grade and their high school *580 studies some two weeks prior to graduation ceremonies. It appears the trial court believed that the date of the graduation ceremonies limited the court's discretion. We construe the term "graduation" in section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, liberally, especially under the circumstances where the children are dependent and in need of child support during their last year of high school; to deny support for the entire year would not be within the spirit or intent of the law as it relates to child support....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...ole support. Reversed and remanded with directions. NOTES [1] Should the guardianship later be exhausted and by virtue of his mental or physical disability the individual is still unable to support himself, the parent must resume responsibility. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...1977, the day of her death. The McPhails assert that it was error for the trial court to dismiss their wrongful death claims for mental pain and suffering, contending that the legislature, by changing the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen (Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1973)), never intended to reduce the age limit for recovery for wrongful death of dependent unmarried children from twenty-one to eighteen years under the Wrongful Death Act, Section
768.18(2), Florida Statutes (1972)....
...The Wrongful Death Act, enacted in 1972, defined the term "minor" to mean "unmarried children under twenty-one years of age." Section
768.18(2), Florida Statutes (1972). However, in 1973, the legislature changed the age of majority from twenty-one years to eighteen years. Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1973)....
CopyCited 3 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1992 WL 75638
...competent jurisdiction from requiring *1004 support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority, and any crippled child... ." § 743.07(2), Fla....
...ed in light of the circumstances as they now exist. Reversed and remanded. SCHOONOVER, C.J., and RYDER, DANAHY, CAMPBELL, LEHAN, FRANK, THREADGILL, PARKER, PATTERSON and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] We note that in 1991 the legislature amended section 743.07(2) by deleting reference to crippled children and adding the following: "or if the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19." § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1260161
...not to exceed [his] nineteenth birthday." Scott was born on May 21, 1979. The respondent argued that child support could not be continued as a matter of law because Scott had no reasonable expectation of graduating prior to his nineteenth birthday. Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1997), provides: This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical...
...(Emphasis added.) Scott's graduation ceremony was scheduled for June 2, 1998, eleven days after his nineteenth birthday. The petitioner maintained that Scott's right to graduation would vest, i.e., he would be entitled to a diploma, prior to his nineteenth birthday thus meeting the requirements of section 743.07(2)....
...Therefore, he did not meet the criteria for continued support beyond age eighteen listed in the statute." Wattenbarger,
728 So.2d at 278. Further, the First District reasoned that to hold the contrary would be an "incorrect application of the plain language of section
743.07(2) and one inconsistent with precedent." Id....
...ict in Boot v. Sapp , in reversing and remanding a trial court's order denying a petition for modification of child support for twin sons who were to turn nineteen several days prior to their graduation ceremony: We construe the term "graduation" in section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, liberally especially under the circumstances where the children are dependent and in need of child support during their last year of high school; to deny support for the entire year would not be within the spirit or intent of the law as it relates to child support....
...Chapters 61 and 743 of the Florida Statutes should be read together as related to child support and should be liberally construed to mitigate potential harm to children.
714 So.2d at 580. We find the Fourth District's reading compatible with the "reasonable expectation of graduation" language of section
743.07(2)....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...The only method by which a husband may absolve himself of such obligation of support prior to the child reaching twenty-one is if he files a motion to modify under Section
61.14, Florida Statutes (1977), and is able to show that the child has since become married or self-supporting. This result is in no way changed by Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1977), lowering the age of majority to eighteen because the statute by its express terms does not operate retroactively to alter or change child support *1062 awards made prior to July 1, 1973, the effective date of the statute....
...Daugherty,
308 So.2d 24 (Fla. 1975), when he or she attains "majority." This argument is unsound. As the appellee concedes, the only basis for concluding that the child in question has become "emancipated" is that she has reached 18, the age of majority as provided by Sec.
743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 1993 WL 152224
...Further, the husband contends that the trial court erred in requiring child support to be paid to the minor child even after the age of eighteen. Pursuant to Florida law, the legal obligations of the parents end upon the child reaching his or her majority, unless the child is statutorily dependent. See § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 2017 WL 1037867, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38629
...and T.J.H. were 17. . The Florida Constitution does not define "children.” Nor does Florida law establish the maximum age for which a child is entitled to a free public education. But the age of majority in Florida is eighteen years old. See Fla. Stat. § 743.07 (1)....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 2494709, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 9293
...Any prejudice would have certainly been remedied with a continuance, which the father did not request. The interests of justice would have been served under these circumstances where the mother mistakenly did not request child support on a permanent basis, to which she was entitled under these circumstances. See § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 11575, 2015 WL 4577176
...See Perla v. Perla,
58 So.2d 689, 690 (Fla.1952). An exception to this general rule exists if the dependent person is between the ages of eighteen and nineteen and still in high school, or if the dependent is mentally or physically incapacitated. See §
743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...majority from 21 to 18 years, should give full credence and understanding to what we believe to be the sound legal effect of our decision. The basic rule, Rule 7.6 of the Florida Board of Regents' Operating Manual, [3] *219 was amended to conform to Section 743.07, Florida Statutes, which became effective on July 1, 1973, reducing in Florida the age of majority from 21 to 18 years. Section 743.07(3) reads as follows: "(3) This section shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively and shall not affect the rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973." (Emphasis ours.) Florida decisions have uniformly and without exception adhered to the prospective operation of the statute....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2017 WL 514336, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 1545
...The court found that the former wife lacked standing to bring the claim. We affirm. The former wife lacked standing to seek retroactive child support for the first time over three years after the child’s 18th birthday with no showing that the child was otherwise legally dependent under section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2015), or that such support was otherwise agreed to by the parties....
...See §
61.13(l)(a)l.a., Fla. Stat. (2015) (“All child support orders and income deduction orders entered on or after October 1, 2010, must provide ... [f]or child support to terminate on a child’s 18th birthday unless the court finds or previously found that s.
743.07(2) applies, or is otherwise agreed to by the parties.”); §
61.30(17), Fla....
...2d DCA 2008) (“[A] spouse seeking child support in a dissolution action that is filed after a child reaches the age of majority is generally entitled to support only for those months within the preceding twenty-four months when the child was a minor or qualified for support under section 743.07(2).”)....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2000 WL 200903
...es in the financial affidavits they submitted to the trial court. For that reason, the child support award is reversed and remanded for recalculation, based on the income information provided in the parties' financial affidavits. In contravention of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1999), the trial court's order also improperly requires the mother to, potentially, continue to pay child support past each child's eighteenth birthday, irrespective of whether the child is actually attending high...
...payment of child support "until such time as the child reaches age eighteen, marries, becomes self-supporting or dies, whichever occurs first," with the understanding that a petition to modify may be filed in the event that one of the exceptions of section 743.07(2) becomes applicable....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2003 WL 22867622
...PETERSON and TORPY, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] The remaining issues involving the seatbelt defense, the jury's allocation of fault, allegedly improper remarks during closing arguments and jury instructions lack merit. [2] The age of majority was reduced to eighteen years in 1973. § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1988 WL 131608
...for a dependent child. John claims that since Andrew is an adult, he alone, or a court-ordered guardian, must bring an action for his support. We have previously rejected such contentions. Brown v. Brown,
484 So.2d 1282 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). See also section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (specifically authorizes courts to order parental support for adult dependent children); Smith v....
...Scott,
394 So.2d 536 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). John also contends that a dependency determination, and support based thereon, is not a proper subject to be heard in a dissolution proceeding. It has been well established in case law since the passage of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes, that a finding of dependency, and support thereon, may be made in a dissolution hearing....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...This litigation arose out of the marriage relation existing between the parties, who were married for thirty-four years but lived together slightly less than half that time. Two children were born of the union; both are adults, but one remains a dependent child within the meaning of Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1981)....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1989 WL 139123
...is still attending high school." See Soles v. Soles,
536 So.2d 367 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); and Gelman v. Gelman,
512 So.2d 236 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Under Point I in his brief, the husband argues that post-majority child support may not be awarded under Section
743.07(2), *327 Florida Statutes (Supp....
...shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority... . Nonetheless, section 743.07(2) as amended was not argued before the trial court even though the hearing took place on February 8, 1989....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...Nevertheless, we are persuaded that the award of $200 per month as child support constituted an abuse of discretion. We note that on June 1, 1973, the date of the entry of the judgment in the case sub judice, the younger son, Mark, who was 18 years old, had not attained majority status as Section 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 4196, 2009 WL 1212121
...It is simply a fiction to hold that these parents did not "contemplate" their child reaching the age of majority before graduation, when they specifically listed that very event as a possible terminating event. The mother argues that the MSA is against public policy in this regard, citing § 743.07(2)....
...igh school. Rather it merely authorizes the court to do so if the statutory conditions are met. The MSA does not conflict with that policy by voluntarily ending his support when the child reaches the age of majority while still in school. Nothing in § 743.07(2) bars parents from providing, as these parents did, that his duty of support ends with the majority of the child even though secondary education is not yet complete....
...ed such approval. She concedes that when they made the agreement the child was three years old and that she understood then that the child would reach majority in her senior year of high school. She argues, however, that the parties "misinterpreted" § 743.07(2)....
...The triggering event was only days away when she filed this proceeding 14 years after the judgment, and had already occurred by the time the court entered its summary judgment granting the relief. We find error in the trial court's decision. Reversed. WARNER and DAMOORGIAN, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 1993 WL 55986
...Eugene Walworth appeals from the trial judge's order dated February 1992, which requires him to pay child support through June 1993 when the child was expected to graduate from high school, a date well past the son's nineteenth birthday. Walworth argues the order exceeds the limits of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1991)....
...e graduated from high school in June of 1993. David was actively pursuing his high school diploma, but his graduation was delayed because he had been held back twice during elementary school. However, he was not physically or mentally incapacitated. Section 743.07(2) was revised in 1991, effective October, 1991, after this petition for modification was filed....
...ng majority or if the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19. (emphasis supplied) Florida cases construing section 743.07(2) prior to the 1991 revision generally require that the child have some kind of physical or mental disorder or incapacity in order to extend a parent's child support obligations past the child's eighteenth birthday....
...teen years or graduated from high school, whichever occurred first. Evans relied upon Finn v. Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla. 1975) and certified a conflict with this court's opinion in Keenan. We are bound by Keenan. We conclude that the 1991 revision to section
743.07(2) should be applied to this case rather than prior case law even though the petition for modification was filed before its effective date....
...In fact, young people, like David, may need the additional year of financial assistance more than their average or above-average contemporaries. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment appealed, but we certify [3] to the supreme court the following as a question of great public importance: DOES SECTION 743.07(2), FLORIDA STATUTES (1991) VIOLATE THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE OF THE FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS BY DENYING CHILD SUPPORT FOR 18 YEAR OLDS IN HIGH *222 SCHOOL WHO ARE NOT REASONABLY EXPECTED TO GRADUATE BY THEIR 19TH BIRTHDAYS, B...
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 1990 WL 102673
...NOTES [1] Although the disability of nonage was reduced from the age of twenty-one to eighteen by a 1973 enactment of the legislature, the change has no retroactive effect on the general support aspect of the judgment of divorce in this case which was entered in 1969. See § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 284165
...the former husband filed his motion for modification. We agree. Generally, a parent is not legally bound to support his or her children beyond the age of 18, unless the parent agrees to do so in a binding contract or unless one of the exceptions in section 743.07, Florida Statutes, applies....
...ay $100.00, weekly for CHILD SUPPORT, commencing with the next regularly scheduled payment, until the minor child(ren) should die, marry, become emancipated, or is/are otherwise no longer (a) dependent child(ren) pursuant to Sections
409.2554(2) and
743.07(2) Florida Statutes....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 1556, 2015 WL 477876
...Section
61.13(l)(a)l.a., Florida Statutes, requires that “[a]ll child support orders and income deduction orders entered on or after October 1, 2010, must provide ... [f]or child support to terminate on a child’s 18th birthday unless the court finds or previously found that s.
743.07(2) applies, or is otherwise agreed to by the parties.” Section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes, allows a court to require child support payments for a child that “is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school.” The clear language of the statute requires that all support orders entered aft...
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...The father discontinued child support payments upon the child reaching the age of eighteen. The mother petitioned for enforcement to age twenty-one and for modification due to changed circumstances. The trial judge dismissed the mother's petition on the sole ground that section 743.07, [1] Florida Statutes (1981) which became effective July 1, 1973 in redefining "minority" from twenty-one to eighteen, terminated the father's child support obligation....
...At the time the property settlement was entered into, and at the time the final judgment was rendered, the age of majority was twenty-one years. We hold that this entitled the mother to receive support until the child reached the age of twenty-one years. The saving provisions of section 743.07(3) prevented the statute from effecting an automatic change in the child support award from twenty-one years to eighteen years....
...1975), the dissolution judgment under consideration merely ordered the father to pay child support to the two children of the parties *326 without any reference to the date such payments were to terminate. In holding that the legal child support obligation continued to age twenty-one despite the enactment of section 743.07, the supreme court stated: The final judgment rendered prior to the effective date of this act had impliedly set the duration of legal dependency to ......
...conclusion that the effect of the court order previously rendered would not be modified solely by the statute going into effect. Here the parties in their agreement and the court in the judgment of dissolution both entered before the enactment of section 743.07 specified that child support payments would continue to "majority." In light of Finn v....
...Burgdorf,
372 So.2d 988 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979), this court held that a judgment providing for child support payments until the child "shall become sui juris " was enforceable until the child reached twenty-one years, unaffected by the subsequent enactment of section
743.07. The order of the trial court is reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith. CAMPBELL and LEHAN, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Section
743.07....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1828, 1986 Fla. App. LEXIS 9466
...The court below did not enter a judgment as to the remaining plaintiffs, but instead granted a new trial after plaintiffs rejected a remittitur. The order granting a new trial is not here appealed. See Owens v. Jackson,
476 So.2d 264 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). . Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1975)....
...in this context, noting that were the dependency requirements the same for minor children as for blood relatives, the legislature would need not differentiate between minor children and blood relatives, as minor children are blood relatives. . E.g. Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973).
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1990 WL 109484
..., and awarded retroactive child support of $100 per week. The court also ordered the former husband to pay $10 per week towards the arrearage which resulted after Douglas reached majority. We affirm. The governing statutory provision in this matter, section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, was amended October 1, 1988 to provide: This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because...
...The issue confronting us is whether Douglas' condition is a mental incapacity resulting in dependency thus warranting an award of support beyond the age of majority. In Spurlock v. Spurlock,
552 So.2d 326 *14 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), the court, faced with the construction of section
743.07(2), remanded for a hearing in order further to explore the statute's application....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...Stat. § 13-22-101
5
unrestricted right to consent to healthcare services in every state
except six. 9
(2018); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-1d (2018); Del. Code Ann tit. 6, § 2705
(2018); D.C. Code § 46-101 (2018); § 743.07, Fla....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...No reversible error was committed except as to the second point raised regarding continuing support to age 21 for the minor daughter. The remaining three points are affirmed. The original dissolution occurred in 1975, thus the applicable age of majority for the children is 18 rather than 21. See Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973); Mohammad v....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 11827, 1999 WL 682605
...The court extended the former husband’s child support obligation until the daughter’s nineteenth birthday on May 18,1998, on the basis that the daughter was scheduled to graduate from high school on or about June 6, 1998. The' former husband filed a timely appeal. Section 743.07(2) authorizes a court to require support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority or if the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19. This case involves the graduation provision of section 743.07(2). While there was some discussion involving the incapacity provision of section 743.07(2) at the modification hearing, there was insufficient evidence to extend the former husband’s support obligation based upon the incapacity provision. The former husband argues that the trial court erred in finding that the graduation provision of section 743.07(2) authorized an extension of support payments in this case. We agree with the former husband. The trial'court, by the terms of its own order, acknowledged that the parties’ daughter would reach her nineteenth birthday before her high school graduation. The terms of section 743.07(2) are clear that there must be “a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19.” § 743.07(2), Fla. Stat. (1997). It is apparent there could not have been a reasonable expectation that the daughter would graduate from high school before her nineteenth birthday. Therefore, the trial court erred in finding that the graduation provision of section 743.07(2) authorized the court to extend the former husband’s child support obligation....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida | 2010 WL 3701318
...pport. You should also show in the schedule the day, month, and year that the child support obligation terminates for each minor child. The date child support terminates should be listed as the child’s 18th birthday unless the court has found that section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, applies, or the parties have otherwise agreed to a different date....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 13816, 2004 WL 2098389
...Smith v. Smith,
495 So.2d 886, 886 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); accord Sprunger v. Sprunger,
534 So.2d 925, 926 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). But see Taylor v. Bonsall,
875 So.2d 705, 709-10 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); Brown v. Brown,
714 So.2d 475, 477 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2003), which is to be read in conjunction with chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes as it relates to child support, see Wattenbarger v....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 9 Fla. L. Weekly 2005, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 15037
support until he attains the age of 21 years. See Section
743.07(3), Florida Statutes (1973). REVERSED AND REMANDED
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2203, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 12171
1978); 49 Fla.Jur.2d Statutes § 123 (1984). As Section
743.07, Florida Statutes, provides that a person ceases
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 14740, 2016 WL 5805201
...On appeal, the former wife argues that the trial court did not have the authority
to award child support to the former husband because his petition to modify her
existing no-child-support obligation was filed after the child turned 18. This
argument is meritless.1 Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2015),2 clearly
authorizes a parent to “file a petition seeking child support up and until high school
graduation for the appropriate eighteen-year-old child ....
...2d DCA 2012) (reversing dismissal of petition for modification of child support
for 18-year-old high school student); Henderson v. Henderson,
882 So. 2d 499 (Fla.
1st DCA 2004) (same); Dep’t of Revenue ex rel. Lockmiller v. Lockmiller,
791 So.
2d 552, 553 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (“[N]othing in section
743.07(2) suggests that the
former wife’s ability to seek support for the dependent child terminated on that
child’s eighteenth birthday.”); cf....
...te—that at the
time the former husband filed his petition for modification, the parties’ child was
dependent in fact, between the ages of 18 and 19, still in high school, and expected
to graduate before she turned 19. Accordingly, pursuant to section
743.07(2), the
trial court had the authority to require the former wife to pay child support after the
child turned 18 in October 2014. See §§
61.13(1)(a)1.a. (stating that child support
orders terminate when the child turns 18 “unless the court finds . . . that [section]
743.07(2) applies”),
61.14(9), Fla....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1992 Fla. App. LEXIS 11304, 1992 WL 312745
ALTENBERND, Judge. Carol Harper appeals an order terminating her adult daughter’s status as a dependent child under section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1989)....
...After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered an order declaring that Amy Harper was no longer dependent and terminating her support. Amy Harper is a competent, legal adult. Although she was declared a dependent “because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to [her] reaching majority,” § 743.07(1), Fla.Stat....
...(1989), she has never been declared “incapacitated” in order to establish a legal guardianship. See §§
744.102(10),
744.3201, Fla.Stat. (1989). Both chapters 743 and 744 now use the term “incapacity,” but it seems clear that a broader definition is intended for that term in section
743.07(1) than in chapter 744....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida
...pport. You should also show in the schedule the day,
month, and year that the child support obligation terminates for each minor child. The date child support
terminates should be listed as the child’s 18th birthday unless the court has found that section 743.07(2),
Florida Statues, applies, or the parties have otherwise agreed to a different date....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida
...pport. You should also show in the schedule the day,
month, and year that the child support obligation terminates for each minor child. The date child support
terminates should be listed as the child’s 18th birthday unless the court has found that section 743.07(2),
Florida Statues, applies, or the parties have otherwise agreed to a different date....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 10501, 1993 WL 407941
...reverse the portion of the order denying partial payment through the clerk of the court. However, we affirm the portion of the order which denies the wife’s request to extend child support payments until the children complete high school. Although section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1991), 1 allows a trial court to order support to be paid for a dependent person between the ages of eighteen and nineteen who is still in high school, such an order is discretionary. The wife failed to show that the trial court abused that discretion. Reversed in part, affirmed in part and remanded for further proceedings. FRANK, C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur. . 743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older.— [[Image here]] (2) This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when su...
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 13230, 2000 WL 1508509
...See §
61.08(3), Fla. Stat. On remand, we also direct the trial court to amend the child support provision of its order to reflect the parties’ agreement that support obligations for each child continue beyond 18 years of age in accordance with the provisions of section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida
-2- pursuant to section
743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2017), seeking to extend
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1981 Fla. App. LEXIS 21638
...child support ceased when the child in question reached the age of 18 years. See also Gilman v. Dozier,
388 So.2d 294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980) where this Court approved the statement of law in Burgdorf v. Burgdorf,
372 So.2d 988 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1979) that Section
743.07, Florida Statutes (1973), lowering the age of majority to 18 years, did not affect divorce decrees entered prior to July 1, 1973, when the age of majority was 21 years....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 2493, 1988 Fla. App. LEXIS 5025, 1988 WL 120699
...the final judgment. The court in turn found that the wife currently earns $32,400 per year but had earned only $5,500 per year at the time of dissolution. In addition, the court found that both girls are economically dependent within the meaning of section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1987), and our opinion in Evans v....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1977 Fla. App. LEXIS 16749
PER CURIAM. Under the terms of a 1972 separation agreement the husband is responsible for child support until each child reaches age 21 or is otherwise emancipated. The trial court erroneously ruled as a matter of law, that the passage of Section 743.07, Florida Statutes, automatically terminated the husband’s liability for support when each child reached age 18. Section 743.07 changed the age of majority from 21 to 18 effective July 1, 1973....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1981 Fla. App. LEXIS 21615
obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973. Section 743.-07, Florida Statutes (1979). Since the child support
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1099, 1986 Fla. App. LEXIS 7743
...age of majority or became self-supporting. It is this factor which distinguishes the instant case. Here, James Grobleski, Jr., was eighteen at the time of the contempt hearing and therefore, had reached the age of majority under current Florida law. § 743.07, Fla....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 4179, 1994 WL 169365
COBB, Judge. The issue on this appeal concerns the correct interpretation of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1991)....
...ontinuing child support past the age of 18 years for the child, Thomas Smart, has not been met because it was not shown that this child would graduate high school prior to reaching the age of 19 years.... The former wife contends, and we agree, that section 743.07(2) creates two separate situations upon which child support may be extended beyond the age of 18....
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 5933, 2001 WL 467544
...Moreover, the instant petition by the father was filed before that time. The court’s order in respect to that petition relates back to the date of filing the petition. Because the court had jurisdiction over Meleny at the time the petition was filed, section 743.07(2), Fla....
...ars when such dependency is because of mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority.” We find appellant’s other points on appeal without merit. AFFIRMED. COBB and PALMER, JJ., concur. . It should be noted that section 743.07 does not itself grant parental support to dependent children; it merely provides that in those cases in which the child remains dependent because of physical or mental disabilities, the fact of majority will not prevent a court otherwi...
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...to include language that support shall continue for the children if they are still in high
-8-
school upon turning eighteen and reasonably expect to graduate before the age of
nineteen. We agree.
Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2016), allows for an award of support
for a child who is between the ages of eighteen and nineteen and is still in high school,
performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of
nineteen....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 8516, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 1354
of majority was lowered to 18 on July 1,1973. §
743.07, Fla.Stat. (1973). In 1976, the mother moved to
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 7480, 2003 WL 21169476
...The adult child is now married to a man who is also mentally incapacitated. We affirm the trial court’s order. We write only to point out that we believe the legislature should address this issue. By legislative design, children up to the age of eighteen are dependent upon their parents. § 743.07(1), Fla. Stat. (2001). Also by legislative design, children who are mentally or physically incapacitated may remain dependent upon their parents beyond the age of eighteen. § 743.07(2)....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
public interest, to wit: “Whether § 1[.01](14) or §
743.07, Florida Statutes, purport to and/or expressly
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida
longer had a legal obligation to support. See §
743.07(2), Fla. Stat. (2017) (recognizing only two exceptions
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 6958, 2010 WL 1923964
...n of the hearing officer and entered an order implementing it. [1] So far as we can tell, the hearing officer derived his ruling that flew directly in the face of the agreement of the parties and the order requiring the payment of child support from section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2009)....
...on of graduation before the age of 19. As this court has noted previously, a parent is not legally bound to support his or her children beyond the age of 18, unless the parent agrees to do so in a binding contract, or unless one of the exceptions to section
743.07 applies. See Dep't of Rev. ex rel. Hall v. Hall,
699 So.2d 1036, 1037 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). In the matter before us section
743.07(2) should have played no role in the disposition....
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1974).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
...ate for election to a state legislative office? SUMMARY: The provisions of our State Constitution which require the attainment of a specified age as a qualification for state legislative office remain in full force and effect and are not modified by s. 743.07 , F.S., the so-called Adult Rights Law. However, such provisions are subject to amendment, which may be proposed by either legislative resolution or initiative of the people. Section 743.07 (1), F.S., provides in pertinent part that: (1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older except as otherwise excluded by the state constitution immediately preceding the effective date of this section. (Emphasis supplied.) As of the effective date of s. 743.07 (1), F.S....
...III, s. 15(c), State Const.] Inasmuch as the aforementioned age requirement disqualifying persons under the age of twenty-one years from holding state legislative office is found in the Constitution which immediately preceded the effective date of s. 743.07 , supra, it is within the exception italicized in the above-quoted portion and continues in full force and effect....
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2002 WL 31557662
...We have carefully examined the issues raised on appeal and find no error. In particular, we note that both the petition for modification and the trial court's order [1] adequately state substantial *578 changed circumstances which are involuntary and permanent warranting child support beyond age eighteen. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...rge
enough for one or more of her adult children to reside with her.”
The trial court’s justification impermissibly required the Husband to
contribute to the support of adult children that he no longer had a legal
obligation to support. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 787, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 7261
...cation of child support for the parties’ son Wade, who reached the age of eighteen prior to completing high school, and remand the cause for the trial court to determine whether Wade was a dependent person entitled to support within the meaning of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1983)....
...Stultz,
504 So.2d 5 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Keenan v. Keenan,
440 So.2d 642 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983) (en banc). Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. . We consider paragraph D of the Order as referring to alimony and support rather than *45 custody. . Section
743.07, Fla.Stat. (1983), states:
743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older.— (1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges,...
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Argued: Oct 22, 2024
...than it did at the Founding. Although 21 was the near-universal age
of majority at the Founding, Hamilton, supra, at 64, Florida, in re-
cent decades, has lowered the age of majority for many rights to
18, see FLA. STAT. § 743.07....
...Jones,
10 F.3d 226, 232 (4th Cir.
1993) (same).
2 The majority opinion emphasizes that twenty-one was considered the age of
majority around the time of the Founding. But, under Florida law, the age of
adulthood is eighteen. See Fla. Stat. §
743.07(1)....
...Id.
Unlike other provisions in Florida law, this purchase re-
striction disarms a class of law-abiding, nonviolent, mentally com-
petent adults. In Florida, the age of adulthood is eighteen. See Fla.
Stat. § 743.07(1)....
...2019) (explaining that “appellant was an adult
when he was sentenced and had thus aged out of the juvenile jus-
tice system”). And, at that age, a person may be sued and held liable
for breach of contract. See Fla. Stat. § 743.07(1).
Not only does this purchase restriction disarm a class of law-
abiding, mentally competent adults, it also disproportionately dis-
arms adults who, in the words of the district court, “actually ne...
...That principle doesn’t provide a comparable justifi-
cation for Florida’s ban. Florida has removed the “[t]he disability of
nonage” for anyone “18 years of age or older,” which is why they
can be held to long term contracts. Fla. Stat. § 743.07....
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...failing to provide for support of the parties’ special needs child past the
age of majority, we find that this issue was not preserved. However, our
affirmance on this issue is without prejudice to the mother seeking a
modification of child support on the basis that section 743.07(2), Florida
Statutes, applies....
...(2017) (“The court initially
entering an order requiring one or both parents to make child support
payments has continuing jurisdiction after the entry of the initial order to
modify the amount and terms and conditions of the child support
payments . . . if s. 743.07(2) applies . . . .”); § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1990 Fla. App. LEXIS 4513, 1990 WL 85436
...1st DCA 1984), we noted that in certain factual contexts child support could be mandated for a dependent student who is still in high school after attaining the age of majority where his dependency was predicated on a finding of total economic incapacity. However, section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, was amended, effective October 1, 1988, to read: “This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency...
...was being treated by a mental health professional. We conclude that the evidence herein supports a conclusion that the parties’ son’s psychological condition constituted a dependency, in addition to his economic incapacity, which suffices under section 743.07(2) to require a period of continued child support under the terms of the order appealed....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 6952, 1997 WL 336589
GRIFFIN, Judge. We find no merit to appellant’s attack on the lower court’s order modifying child support; however, the record is unclear regarding birthdays and expected graduation dates. Under section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1995), child support may not be extended beyond the date of high school graduation....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida | 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 267, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 1344, 2011 WL 2375590
...support. You should also show in the schedule the day, month, and year that the child support obligation terminates for each minor child. The date child support terminates should be listed as the child's 18th birthday unless the court has found that section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, applies, or the parties have otherwise agreed to a different date....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 10626, 2001 WL 844696
...In February 2000, four months after the youngest child turned eighteen, DOR filed a supplemental petition for support, alleging that the child was a dependent child beyond the age of eighteen who would graduate from high school prior to his nineteenth birthday. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
...Accordingly, both the former husband and the former wife had a statutory obligation to support their son. In this case, DOR stands in place of the former wife, and, therefore, has standing to seek enforcement of the former husband’s obligation, just as it would were the son still a minor. Furthermore, nothing in section 743.07(2) suggests that the former wife’s ability to seek support for the dependent child terminated on that child’s eighteenth birthday....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1677, 1989 Fla. App. LEXIS 3924, 1989 WL 75726
...h birthday. The original order of dissolution, entered in March 1973, required the former husband to pay $75 per month per child until each child reaches the age of twenty-one years. The age of majority was lowered to eighteen years on July 1, 1973. § 743.07, Fla.Stat. (1973). The current order modifies the support amount to $500 per child per month until each child is twenty-one years old. The children were eighteen and sixteen years old when the petition for modification of child support was filed. Section 743.07 operates prospectively, not retrospectively, and will not affect any rights and obligations existing pri- or to its enactment....
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 1992 Fla. App. LEXIS 7476, 1992 WL 157441
PER CURIAM. The appellant, Frances K. Monitzer, challenges a trial court determination that her adult daughter is not a dependent person under the provisions of section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1989)....
...Although the expert testified that she may become independent in the future, she was dependent at the time of the hearing and had been for years prior to reaching her majority. *576 Since the evidence establishes that the parties’ daughter meets the requirements for continued support pursuant to section 743.07(2), the court erred by not ordering the appellee to contribute to that support....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 76, 1996 WL 5144
...s child support obligation. The final order provides that, if the parties’ minor child is still in high school at the age of 19, the husband must continue paying child support until the child has graduated from high school. This provision violates section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1993). 1 Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions to amend the final order to conform to the statute. The final order is affirmed in all other respects. AFFIRM in part; REVERSE and REMAND in part. JOANOS, MICKLE and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur. . Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1993), provides: This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical...
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1977).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
billiard parlors within the state? SUMMARY: Section
743.07, F. S., the Adult Rights Act, amends s. 849
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 94, 1997 WL 11552
...ichever occurs first.” Appellant contends that in the instant case, because no evidence in the record supports the finding made by the trial court that the child has a reasonable expectation of graduating from high school before her 19th birthday, section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1995), does not allow for the continuation of child support beyond age 18....
...ne amount of $767 per month ordering such support “to continue until the parties’ minor child reaches the age of 19 or upon her graduation from high school, whichever occurs first.” The husband moved for rehearing, arguing that the language of section 743.07(2) precludes such a provision for support....
...until the parties’ minor child reaches the age of 19 or upon her graduation from high school, whichever occurs first” was error. Ratcliff v. Ratcliff,
679 So.2d 1279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Hunter v. Hunter,
626 So.2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). In section
743.07(2) the legislature established certain limited exceptions to the general rule that child support obligations are terminated upon the child reaching majority....
...of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19. Since no contention has been made here that the parties’ child is either mentally or physically incapacitated, for section 743.07(2) to apply “[t]he child must be less than nineteen years of age and be sufficiently far along in high school so as to graduate before his or her nineteenth birthday.” Walworth *755 v....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1982 Fla. App. LEXIS 19120
...The order was silent as to the future termination of child support. The husband complied with the October 19, 1976 order through November, 1980, at which time he informed the trial court that the child had reached the age of eighteen, and that by operation of Section 743.07(1), Florida Statutes, enacted in 1973, reducing the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen, no further obligation existed for child support payments by him....
...On appeal, appellant relies upon language in White v. White,
296 So.2d 619 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974), for his contention that since the original child support order specified no time for termination of payments, there was no obligation existing prior to the effective date of Section
743.07, and that pursuant to the statute, his obligation to pay child support terminated upon the child’s reaching the age of eighteen....
...Consequently, he argues, all rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973 were terminated. Furthermore, he *232 contends, when the trial court ordered him to resume child support payments in October, 1976, that order, being subsequent to the enactment of Section 743.07, became subject to all provisions of that law....
...Appellant’s reliance upon White v. White, supra, is misplaced, and we find Finn v. Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla.1975), to be the controlling authority. In the Finn case, the court expressly held that an order for child support, predating the enactment of Section
743.07, without specifying a termination date, must be construed to require child support payments until age twenty-one....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...a
mental or physical incapacity that started prior to age 18;
or b) if the child is dependent, between his or her 18th
and 19th birthdays, still in high school, and reasonably
expected to graduate before his or her 19th birthday.
§ 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 18923
...personal expenses and support of survivors, excluding contributions in kind.” In the legislative session in 1973, the Legislature enacted “The Florida Emancipation Act,” Ch. 73-21, §§ 2 and 3, Laws of Florida 1973, now appearing as Fla.Stat. § 743.07....
...nder the Wrongful Death Act “minor children” were defined as “unmarried children under twenty-one (21) years of age.” Fla.Stat. §
768.16-768.27. This definition was changed by the subsequent act of the Florida Legislature in 1973, Fla.Stat. §
743.07....
CopyPublished | Supreme Court of Florida
...pport. You should also show in the schedule the day,
month, and year that the child support obligation terminates for each minor child. The date child support
terminates should be listed as the child’s 18th birthday unless the court has found that section 743.07(2),
Florida Statues, applies, or the parties have otherwise agreed to a different date....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 20456, 2011 WL 6373003
...We reverse the order of the trial court which denied the former husband’s request for child support for the minor child, Dakota Messier, and *796 remand for a calculation and award of child support for the period from September 2010 through the date of Dakota’s high school graduation. See §
61.30, Fla. Stat. (2010); §
743.07(2), Fla....
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2005).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
...and common law be not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and the acts of the Legislature of this state." Thus, it is within the power of the Florida Legislature to adopt provisions that will supercede the common law. 2 Section 743.07 (1), Florida Statutes, states: "The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligations of all persons 21 years...
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
the age of majority is eighteen. See Fla. Stat. §
743.07. The Santiagos say their lawsuit was timely because
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 12185, 2016 WL 4261396
...(Husband) to modify child support and granting the counter-petition of Georgina Marin
(Wife) to modify child support. The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial court
had subject matter jurisdiction to modify Husband's child support obligation pursuant to
section 743.07, Florida Statutes (2013), where Wife's counter-petition for modification of
child support was filed after the dependent child reached the age of majority....
...1
Schedule A does not parcel out the child support amounts owed for each
of the two children. Instead, it merely orders the payment of the aggregate monthly sum
of $580 per month.
-3-
section 743.07....
...Husband now appeals, arguing that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to
extend child support beyond the age of majority. We agree and reverse.
II. ANALYSIS
A. The Textual Framework of Sections
61.13(1)(a) and
743.07
Section
61.13(1)(a)(1)(a) states that "[a]ll child support orders entered on
or after October 1, 2010, must provide . . . for child support to terminate on a child's
eighteenth birthday, unless the court finds or previously found that s.
743.07(2) applies,
or is otherwise agreed to by the parties." In similar fashion, section
61.13(1)(a)(2)
provides:
The court initially entering an order requiring one or both
parents to make child support payments ha...
...payments if the modification is found by the court to be in the
best interests of the child; when the child reaches majority; if
there is a substantial change in the circumstances of the
parties; if s. 743.07(2) applies; or when a child is
emancipated, marries, joins the armed services, or dies....
...The
court initially entering a child support order has continuing
jurisdiction to require the obligee to report to the court on
terms prescribed by the court regarding the disposition of the
child support payments.
(Emphasis added.) Finally, section 743.07 reads, in pertinent part:
(1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all
persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and
they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and
obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older ....
...efore the age of 19.
Working in concert, these statutes provide clear directives for the
termination and modification of support orders. Child support orders are required pro
forma to terminate upon a child reaching majority, unless section 743.07(2) applies or
the parties agree otherwise....
...dependency is due to mental or physical incapacity which began prior to the person
reaching majority; or (2) "the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and
19, has not graduated high school, and is expected to graduate some time "before the
age of 19." § 743.07(1)-(2).
B....
...3d DCA 2011) (citing
Kern v. Kern,
360 So. 2d 482, 484 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)); see also Perla v. Perla,
58 So.
2d 689, 690 (Fla. 1952). This rule does not conflict with the previously discussed
statutory authority. In fact, it is contemplated by the plain language of section
743.07(1), which merely lowered the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen....
...See
-7-
Finn v. Finn,
312 So. 2d 726, 727-28 (Fla. 1975); see also Hastings v. Hastings,
841
So. 2d 484, 485 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (explaining that the legislature did not seek to
create a new right with section
743.07(1), but rather to save a preexisting common law
right).
The concept of continuing jurisdiction also abides by this rule....
...Mouton,
590 So. 2d 40, 41 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (en
banc) (demonstrating this principle in the context of an alimony award); Kelsey v.
Kelsey,
636 So. 2d 77, 78 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (en banc) (same). Unless otherwise
agreed to by the parties, or unless section
743.07(2) applies, the period for providing
support to a dependent child continues only until the child reaches the age of majority.
§
61.13(1)(a)(1)(a)....
...Phillips,
83 So. 3d 903, 905 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012) (citing Taylor v. Bonsall,
875 So. 2d 705, 709
(Fla. 5th DCA 2004)).
C. The Jurisdictional Limits of Section 743.02(2)
Florida courts have long grappled with whether or not a petition under
section
743.07(2) may be used to extend support for an incapacitated child beyond the
age of majority even if the petition has been filed after the support obligation has
terminated....
...the child reached the age of majority.
D. Subject Matter Jurisdiction in the Present Case
- 10 -
Here, Wife did not file a petition to modify child support for the son
pursuant to section 743.07(2) until her letter of August 6, 2013....
...2d at 484).2
Accordingly, we hold the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to modify the
child support relating to the son, and reverse the order of the trial court. See Larwa v.
Dep't of Revenue ex rel. Roush,
169 So. 3d 1285, 1285 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (per
2
Section
743.07(2) contains another provision, which allows for a court to
extend a support obligation beyond majority where a child is "dependent in fact, is
between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with
a...
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...(Husband) to modify child support and granting the counter-petition of Georgina Marin
(Wife) to modify child support. The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial court
had subject matter jurisdiction to modify Husband's child support obligation pursuant to
section 743.07, Florida Statutes (2013), where Wife's counter-petition for modification of
child support was filed after the dependent child reached the age of majority....
...o
1Schedule A does not parcel out the child support amounts owed for each
of the two children. Instead, it merely orders the payment of the aggregate monthly sum
of $580 per month.
-3-
section 743.07....
...Husband now appeals, arguing that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to
extend child support beyond the age of majority. We agree and reverse.
II. ANALYSIS
A. The Textual Framework of Sections
61.13(1)(a) and
743.07
Section
61.13(1)(a)(1)(a) states that "[a]ll child support orders entered on
or after October 1, 2010, must provide . . . for child support to terminate on a child's
eighteenth birthday, unless the court finds or previously found that s.
743.07(2) applies,
or is otherwise agreed to by the parties." In similar fashion, section
61.13(1)(a)(2)
provides:
The court initially entering an order requiring one or both
parents to make child support payments ha...
...payments if the modification is found by the court to be in the
best interests of the child; when the child reaches majority; if
there is a substantial change in the circumstances of the
parties; if s. 743.07(2) applies; or when a child is
emancipated, marries, joins the armed services, or dies....
...The
court initially entering a child support order has continuing
jurisdiction to require the obligee to report to the court on
terms prescribed by the court regarding the disposition of the
child support payments.
(Emphasis added.) Finally, section 743.07 reads, in pertinent part:
(1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all
persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and
they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and
obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older ....
...efore the age of 19.
Working in concert, these statutes provide clear directives for the
termination and modification of support orders. Child support orders are required pro
forma to terminate upon a child reaching majority, unless section 743.07(2) applies or
the parties agree otherwise....
...dependency is due to mental or physical incapacity which began prior to the person
reaching majority; or (2) "the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and
19, has not graduated high school, and is expected to graduate some time "before the
age of 19." § 743.07(1)-(2).
B....
...3d DCA 2011) (citing
Kern v. Kern,
360 So. 2d 482, 484 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)); see also Perla v. Perla,
58 So.
2d 689, 690 (Fla. 1952). This rule does not conflict with the previously discussed
statutory authority. In fact, it is contemplated by the plain language of section
743.07(1), which merely lowered the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen....
...See
-7-
Finn v. Finn,
312 So. 2d 726, 727-28 (Fla. 1975); see also Hastings v. Hastings,
841
So. 2d 484, 485 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (explaining that the legislature did not seek to
create a new right with section
743.07(1), but rather to save a preexisting common law
right).
The concept of continuing jurisdiction also abides by this rule....
...Mouton,
590 So. 2d 40, 41 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (en
banc) (demonstrating this principle in the context of an alimony award); Kelsey v.
Kelsey,
636 So. 2d 77, 78 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (en banc) (same). Unless otherwise
agreed to by the parties, or unless section
743.07(2) applies, the period for providing
support to a dependent child continues only until the child reaches the age of majority.
§
61.13(1)(a)(1)(a)....
...Phillips,
83 So. 3d 903, 905 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012) (citing Taylor v. Bonsall,
875 So. 2d 705, 709
(Fla. 5th DCA 2004)).
C. The Jurisdictional Limits of Section 743.02(2)
Florida courts have long grappled with whether or not a petition under
section
743.07(2) may be used to extend support for an incapacitated child beyond the
age of majority even if the petition has been filed after the support obligation has
terminated....
...re
the child reached the age of majority.
D. Subject Matter Jurisdiction in the Present Case
- 10 -
Here, Wife did not file a petition to modify child support for the son
pursuant to section 743.07(2) until her letter of August 6, 2013....
...2d at 484).2
Accordingly, we hold the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to modify the
child support relating to the son, and reverse the order of the trial court. See Larwa v.
Dep't of Revenue ex rel. Roush,
169 So. 3d 1285, 1285 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (per
2Section
743.07(2) contains another provision, which allows for a court to
extend a support obligation beyond majority where a child is "dependent in fact, is
between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with...
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 3679, 1994 WL 138188
...973. After Anna Marie reached her eighteenth birthday Marina filed a motion to enforce settlement agreement, the purpose of which was to obtain child support for Marina during her final or senior year in high school, pursuant to the recently amended section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1991)....
...hool, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19.- (3) This section shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively, and shall not affect the rights and obligations existing pri- or to July 1, 1973. § 743.07(2), Fla.Stat....
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 5544, 2008 WL 1734303
...5th DCA 2001): If it is established that the child will be in her senior year at the time she turns 18, the trial court should either award child support until the date she graduates or set forth findings of fact explaining why such relief is denied. Although section 743.07 of the Florida Statutes (1999) gives the trial court discretion whether to award extended child support beyond the age of 18, if the child is dependant in fact and reasonably expected to graduate before the age of 19, the denial of such support should be the exception rather than the rule. As the Fourth District has explained, since children who are still attending high school at age 18 are in need of financial support, section 743.07(2) of the Florida Statutes should be interpreted liberally in order to provide such support, thereby mitigating any potential harm to the child resulting from the lack of support....
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 5104
...Jackson objected at the hearing
on the petition, arguing that his obligation for child support ended on December 17, 2015.
Section
61.13(1)(a)1.a., Florida Statutes (2016), provides that child support
terminates “on a child’s [eighteenth] birthday unless the court finds or previously found
that [section]
743.07(2) applies, or is otherwise agreed to by the parties.” §
61.13(1)(a)1.a., Fla....
...Stat. (2016) (“Unless otherwise
ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties, the obligation to pay the current child
support for that child is terminated when the child reaches 18 years of age or the disability
of nonage is removed.”). Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (2016), provides:
This section shall not prohibit any court of competent
jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person
beyond the age of [eighteen] year...
...hteen] and [nineteen], and
is still in high school, performing in good faith with a
2
reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of
[nineteen].
§
743.07(2), Fla. Stat. (2016).
A parent, or, as in this case DOR,1 has standing to file for modification of the child
support obligation to extend it beyond the child’s eighteenth birthday, based on the high
school provision of section
743.07(2), even though the dependent child turned eighteen
before the petition for modification was filed. See Fla. Dep’t of Rev. ex rel. Hobbs v.
Lockmiller,
791 So. 2d 552, 553 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (finding that DOR had standing to
file petition for continuing support for a dependent child pursuant to the high school
provision section
743.07(2) although petition filed four months after the child turned
eighteen); see also Bloom v....
...urned
eighteen as “meritless”); Campagna v. Cope,
971 So. 2d 243, 249 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
(permitting parent to seek retroactive child support by petition filed after the dependent
child turned eighteen pursuant to the high school provision of section
743.07(2));
Henderson v....
...ding DOR’s petition to extend Jackson’s child
support obligations based upon the undisputed facts that the child was eighteen, in high
school, performing in good faith, with reasonable expectation of graduation before the
age of nineteen. See § 743.07(2), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 12630
PER CURIAM. Pursuant to the former wife’s motion, the trial court ordered the former husband to- make child support payments “until each child reaches age 21, or becomes otherwise emancipated.” We reverse. Section 743.07, Florida Statutes (1973), which lowered the age of majority to eighteen, took effect on July 1, 1973....
...Child support orders entered subsequent to the statute’s effective date cannot, with limited exceptions, require a parent to provide support beyond a child’s eighteenth birthday. Wilkerson v. Wilkerson,
430 So.2d 542 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); see Jones v. Jones,
421 So.2d 815 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). Of course, prior to section
743.07’s enactment, child support payments were re--quired until the child reached twenty-one years of age. See Finn v. Finn,
312 So.2d 726 (Fla. 1975). In the case at bar, the husband and wife were divorced in December, 1972. The husband, however, was not ordered to make child support payments until July 6, 1973, five days after the effective date of section
743.07....
...However, this did not constitute, nor did the trial court find, a pre-July 1st child support agreement between the husband and wife. Cf. Bird v. Bird,
436 So.2d 981 (Fla.3d DCA 1983); contra Kramer v. Kramer, 26 Md.App. 620 , 339 A.2d 328 (1975). Since the trial court entered its child support order after section
743.07’s effective date, the former husband’s legal obligation to provide child support terminated upon the youngest child attaining majority, i.e., eighteen years of age....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 755
...." On February 11, 1985, the wife filed a motion for rehearing predicated on the theory that a support judgment entered before July 1, 1973, provides a vested right of support to the child until age twenty-one, because prior to the effective date of Section 743.07, Florida Statutes, majority meant twenty-one years of age....
...The wife's motion for rehearing was denied by order entered March 5, 1985. On April 2, 1985, the wife filed notice of appeal. The final judgment of dissolution of marriage, which contained support provisions for the minor child of the parties, was entered February 8, 1972, prior to the effective date of Section 743.07 Florida Statutes. Section 743.07 lowered the age of majority in Florida from twenty-one to eighteen, but expressly provided that the law "shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively, and shall not affect the rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973." s. 743.07(3), Fla. Stat.; Ch. 73-21, ss. 2, 3, Laws of Fla. The courts, mindful of this legislative bar, have held that the enactment of Section 743.07 will not automatically alter support obligations incurred prior to the effective date of the statute....
...ion of "sui juris" for "21 years of age," reduced the husband's support obligation by three years. We agree with the trial court that the modification order is controlling. Since the modification order was entered subsequent to the effective date of Section 743.07, the fact that Section 743.07 may not apply retroactively has no relevance to this cause....
..."sui juris" in the modification order entered after the effective date of the amendment. Such reasoning overlooks the explicit provision of the statutory enactment that it "shall not affect the rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973." Section 743.07(3), Florida Statutes....
