Megan Lonsdale v. Mario Hany Elbanna
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledOctober 1, 2021
Docket2D20-2978
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
MEGAN LONSDALE,
Appellant,
v.
MARIO HANY ELBANNA,
Appellee.
No. 2D20-2978
October 1, 2021
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court for
Pinellas County; Christopher Michael Labruzzo, Judge.
Paul H. Bowen of Paul H, Bowen, P.A., Palm Harbor (withdrew after
briefing), for Appellant.
O. George Bamis of Macfarlane, Ferguson & McMullen, Clearwater,
for Appellee.
LUCAS, Judge.
Megan Lonsdale appeals a circuit court order temporarily
modifying Mario Elbanna's timesharing with the couple's minor
daughter. Not long before the modification order, a five-year
domestic violence injunction order had been entered against Mr.
Elbanna, which, in pertinent part, had limited Mr. Elbanna's
timesharing with the daughter to supervised visitations.1 The
modification order would have provided unsupervised timesharing
for Mr. Elbanna once he completed certain requirements.
Because the modification order, on its face, failed to state that
any substantial, material, and unanticipated change in
circumstances had occurred after the entry of the injunction order
or that modifying the injunction order would be in the daughter's
best interests, we must reverse the modification order. See §
61.13(3), Fla. Stat. (2020) ("[A] time-sharing schedule may not be
modified without a showing of a substantial, material, and
unanticipated change in circumstances and a determination that
the modification is in the best interests of the child."); J.G.J. v. J.H.,
318 So. 3d 632, 634 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) ("We also agree with the
mother the trial court erred in modifying the timesharing without a
finding of a substantial change in circumstances, in addition to the
1 A related criminal case was pending against Mr. Elbanna at
the time the appeal was filed.
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best interest of the child."); Romeo v. Romeo, 310 So. 3d 1064, 1065
(Fla. 2d DCA 2020) (holding that final judgment did not include a
finding that there had been a "substantial, material, and
unanticipated change in circumstances" that warranted
modification of parenting plan and that "[t]he failure to include that
finding—perhaps the most important determination a family court
must make in a modification proceeding—will typically require
reversal of a judgment that modifies a prior judgment's parenting
plan" (quoting § 61.13(3))); Hollis v. Hollis, 276 So. 3d 77, 79-80
(Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (reversing modification order and quoting
section 61.13(3)).2
Reversed and remanded.
BLACK and ATKINSON, JJ., Concur.
2 This error is apparent on the face of the order; so the fact
that the appellant only provided the transcript for the second day of
the two-day evidentiary hearing does not preclude appellate relief in
this case. However, our holding is limited to this facial error. We
find no merit in any of Ms. Lonsdale's remaining arguments in this
appeal.
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Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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