Vexatious Litigation and Florida Family Law
Going back to family court after your divorce becomes final is more common than you might expect. People make mistakes, and judges are people. Some people go to court to appeal unfair decisions by judges or to seek to reverse rulings made based on a faulty interpretation of evidence. Even when the spouses or co-parents are the ones who reach a decision during mediation, which is the most common outcome in family law cases, they may need to go back to court. It may turn out that the property division settlement or parenting plan to which they agreed is not as feasible as they thought; this is an especially common outcome when the parties did not have lawyers representing them in their original case. Furthermore, parenting plans and alimony awards are always modifiable. You might go to court to modify your parenting plan because your children have entered school, and spending alternating nights at each parent’s house does not work as well for school-aged children as it does for babies. It is also possible to petition the court to modify your alimony or child support order because you lost your job or had to retire earlier than expected because of ill health. Sometimes, though, people go to court just to waste money or to cause stress for their former spouses. If your ex-spouse is using the family court system just to make your life more difficult, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.
When the Family Court Knows That Your Ex Is Being a Nuisance
Almost every decision by a court is subject to appeal. If you believe that a judge made a mistake, you can file the appeal and indicate that the mistake lay in the judge’s consideration of, or failure to consider, a certain piece of evidence. You can also claim that the judge misinterpreted a piece of evidence or misapplied the law. The role of the appeals court is to decide whether the court that originally ruled on your case made the right decision. If the appeals court reverses the decision, the case goes back to the trial court for a new trial.
This is simply the way the legal system works; it would be unfair if the courts did not let people do this. The court has the right to reject an appeal, though, if it asks the appeals court to decide matters other than the ones the trial court decided. This would require a new, separate case, not an appeal.
HB 1559 Seeks to Expand the Definition of Vexatious Litigation
Sometimes people bring cases to court even though they know they have little chance of winning. They do this simply to make their opponents spend money on legal fees or to intimidate their opponents. This is called vexatious litigation, which also includes filing legal cases that the court has already decided. A bill under consideration in Florida’s legislature seeks to define vexatious litigation in the family law context.
Contact Schwartz | White About Dealing With a Vexatious Ex
A South Florida family law attorney can help you if your ex is using the court system to make you spend more time and money than necessary on your divorce case. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/house-committee-approves-bills-to-combat-vexatious-litigation/#:~:text=The%20bill%20defines%20conduct%20as,litigant%20repeatedly%20files%20pleadings%2C%20motions%2C
