Facts
- A dissolution judgment in Alachua County, Florida designated the former wife as primary residential parent and addressed child support.
- After dissolution, the former husband moved to Palm Beach County, Florida, and the former wife moved with the child to Mississippi.
- The former husband filed in Palm Beach County to modify visitation and transportation arrangements.
- The former wife moved to dismiss or transfer, arguing venue belonged in the county of the original custody award; the Palm Beach court transferred the case to Alachua County.
- In Alachua County, the former husband filed a new modification petition and sought transfer back to Palm Beach County, asserting Alachua County was no longer convenient.
- The Alachua court treated the petition as a support-modification proceeding and ordered venue transferred back to Palm Beach County.
- The former wife filed an interlocutory appeal challenging the second venue transfer.
Issues
- Whether a transferee court may order a second change of venue returning the case to the county from which it was originally transferred, given the prohibition in section 47.131, Florida Statutes (1999).
- Whether labeling the proceeding as a support modification under section 61.14(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1999), permits a second transfer that section 47.131 otherwise forbids.
Decision
- The appellate court reversed the Alachua County order transferring the case back to Palm Beach County.
- Section 47.131 permits a second change of venue only if the case is not transferred to the county from which it was originally transferred.
- The statutory bar controlled even if the modification petition could be treated as one governed by section 61.14(1)(a).
- Convenience considerations could not justify a second transfer that violated section 47.131.
- The case remained in Alachua County for further proceedings.
Legal Principles
- After an initial venue transfer, section 47.131, Florida Statutes (1999), prohibits a second venue transfer to the county from which the case was originally transferred.
- The prohibition applies to subsequent venue rulings in the same action, regardless of the substantive basis for the underlying family-law modification request.
- A court may not use convenience or a different statutory framing of the petition to authorize a second transfer that section 47.131 forbids.
Conclusion
The court held that once the action was transferred from Palm Beach County to Alachua County, section 47.131 barred sending it back to Palm Beach County on a second venue change, requiring reversal of the order and continued proceedings in Alachua County.