GREGORY ROBERTS v. ANYZEILA DIAZ ( 2022 )


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  •        Third District Court of Appeal
    State of Florida
    Opinion filed July 20, 2022.
    Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
    ________________
    No. 3D21-1912
    Lower Tribunal No. 18-10858
    ________________
    Gregory Roberts,
    Appellant,
    vs.
    Anyzeila Diaz,
    Appellee.
    An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade
    County, Christina Marie DiRaimondo, Judge.
    Law Office of Kimberly H. Schultz, P.A., and Kimberly H. Schultz, for
    appellant.
    Bruce A. Arrick, P.A., and Bruce A. Arrick; Jay M. Levy P.A., and Jay
    M. Levy, for appellee.
    Before LOGUE, LINDSEY, and MILLER, JJ.
    LINDSEY, J.
    Appellant Gregory Roberts (“Former Husband”) appeals a final order
    denying his proposed timesharing schedule and modifying the existing
    timesharing schedule by adopting Appellee Anyzeila Diaz’s (“Former Wife”)
    proposed timesharing schedule. We affirm because we cannot review the
    factual issues on appeal without a transcript of the hearings below.
    I.    BACKGROUND
    In June 2018, the trial court entered a Final Judgment of Dissolution of
    Marriage based on a Marital Settlement Agreement, which included a
    parenting plan and timesharing schedule. In February 2019, the Former
    Husband filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Change in Parenting
    Plan due to a change in his work schedule. Following a hearing, the trial
    court made temporary changes to the timesharing schedule.
    In February 2020, the Former Husband again moved to temporarily
    modify the timesharing schedule due to conflicts with his work schedule, and
    he submitted a proposed timesharing schedule. In response, the Former
    Wife also submitted a proposed timesharing schedule and asserted that the
    Former Husband’s proposed timesharing schedule did not comport with the
    conditions of the parties’ parenting plan.
    On April 8 and April 10, 2021, the trial court conducted hearings on the
    Former Husband’s motion. There are no transcripts in the record from either
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    of these hearing. On April 14, the trial court entered an order finding that the
    Former Husband’s proposed timesharing schedule did not meet the
    timesharing requirements set forth in the parties’ parenting plan. The court
    also found that the Former Mother’s “proposed timesharing schedule offered
    to this Court at hearing meets all the timesharing conditions . . . .”
    Accordingly, the trial court ratified and approved the Former Wife’s proposed
    timesharing schedule. The Former Husband appealed.
    II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
    This Court reviews orders modifying timesharing for an abuse of
    discretion. Sordo v. Camblin, 
    130 So. 3d 743
    , 744 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014);
    Winters v. Brown, 
    51 So. 3d 656
    , 658 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (“An appellate
    court will not disturb the trial court’s custody decision unless there is no
    substantial, competent evidence to support the decision.”). “The decision of
    the trial court comes to this court clothed in a presumption of correctness,
    and the burden is on the appellant to demonstrate reversible error.” Corridon
    v. Corridon, 
    317 So. 3d 1198
    , 1201 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021) (quoting Chirino v.
    Chirino, 
    710 So. 2d 696
    , 697 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)).
    III.     ANALYSIS
    The Former Husband argues that the trial court had no jurisdiction to
    ratify the Former Mother’s proposed timesharing schedule because the
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    Former Mother did not file a petition to modify timesharing. We disagree. It
    was the Former Husband who initiated the proceeding for modification of the
    timesharing schedule. The trial court was not bound to adopt the relief
    requested within Former Husband’s motion to modify the parties’
    timesharing schedule.
    Generally, both parties must be given notice and an opportunity to be
    heard prior to any modification. Wolfson v. Wolfson, 
    173 So. 3d 1136
    , 1138
    (Fla. 3d DCA 2015), opinion clarified, 
    173 So. 3d 1146
     (Fla. 3d DCA 2015).
    Here, the Former Husband filed a motion to modify the timesharing schedule
    and included a proposed schedule. The Former Wife responded with her
    own proposed timesharing schedule.         The trial court then conducted
    hearings on two separate days. Although we do not have the benefit of
    transcripts, the trial court’s order reveals that the Former Husband, Former
    Wife, and the Court Appointed Parenting Coordinator testified at the hearing.
    Therefore, the parties had adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard
    prior to modification.
    The Former Husband also argues that the Former Wife did not
    demonstrate a substantial change in circumstances, which is required to
    modify a timesharing schedule. See § 61.13(3), Fla. Stat. (2021). However,
    because there are no transcripts of the hearings below, we are unable to
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    review this factual issue. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 
    377 So. 2d 1150
    , 1152 (Fla. 1979) (“Without a record of the trial proceedings, the
    appellate court can not properly resolve the underlying factual issues so as
    to conclude that the trial court’s judgment is not supported by the evidence .
    . . .”); see also Pierre v. Bueven, 
    276 So. 3d 917
    , 918 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)
    (“Because there is no transcript of the final hearing, this Court is unable to
    determine whether there was competent, substantial evidence presented
    below that permitted the lower court to properly evaluate the section
    61.13(3)(a)-(t) factors when it made its parental responsibility and time-
    sharing determinations.”).
    IV.     CONCLUSION
    Without a transcript of the trial court’s hearings, we cannot properly
    resolve the factual issues on appeal. As such, we are compelled to affirm.
    Affirmed.
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