Sara Allyn v. Christopher Allyn
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 30, 2022
Docket2D21-2368
StatusPublished
๐ฐ News Coverage: Read the LAWS.com news report on this case
Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
SARA ALLYN,
Appellant,
v.
CHRISTOPHER ALLYN,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-2368
November 30, 2022
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lee County; Lisa Porter, Judge.
Destiney R. Smith of Law Office of Destiney R. Smith, Fort Myers,
for Appellant.
Christopher Allyn, Pro se.
LUCAS, Judge.
Sara Allyn (the Mother) appeals a supplemental final judgment
modifying a prior approved parenting plan over her minor child.
The child's father, Christopher Allyn, filed a supplemental petition
alleging that a substantial, material, and permanent change in
circumstances had occurred due to inappropriate sexual contact
between the child and his half-sisters while in the Mother's care.
He further alleged that it would be in the child's best interests to
modify the parties' previously agreed upon parenting plan. The
Mother filed a cross-petition to modify the parenting plan.
Following a trial on April 29, 2021, the court entered a
supplemental final judgment that decidedly reduced the overall
amount of timesharing with the Mother and completely eliminated
her overnight timesharing. She now appeals that supplemental
final judgment; she has not, however, provided us with a transcript
of the trial that precipitated the judgment.
When presented with a judgment modifying a parenting plan,
we review a circuit court's findings of fact and rulings based upon
those findings for abuse of discretion. See Wade v. Hirschman, 903
So. 2d 928, 935 (Fla. 2005); Malha v. Losciales, 306 So. 3d 1111,
1113 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020). In the absence of a transcript, however,
we are left with reviewing this supplemental final judgment for error
on its face. See Ivanovich v. Valladarez, 190 So. 3d 1144, 1147
2
(Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (quoting Soto v. Soto, 974 So. 2d 403, 404 (Fla.
2d DCA 2007)).
We have no cause to disturb the circuit court's determination
that a substantial and material change in circumstances had arisen
and that it would be in the best interest of the parties' minor child
to modify the parenting plan. See generally ยง 61.13(3), Fla. Stat.
(2020); C.N. v. I.G.C., 316 So. 3d 287, 288 (Fla. 2021); Wade, 903
So. 2d at 931 n.2. But there is one provision that flows from that
ruling that amounts to a legal error on the face of the judgment and
requires reversal.
In the supplemental final judgment, the court included the
following directions to the parties concerning therapy with a
licensed mental health therapist:
The court finds that the Mother has stability and
supervision[] issues in her home that have negatively
impacted the child's behavior. The Court orders the
Mother to work with Mary Shorack to learn how to
provide more stability and supervision.
The court orders the parties to continue to work with
Mary Shorack and . . . for the child to continue therapy
with Mary Shorack.
The Court finds that the parties should work with Mary
Shorack to expand the time sharing so that the child can
transition to an equal time-sharing plan starting when
3
school lets out for the summer assuming it is in the best
interest of the child. The parties will defer to Mary
Shorack regarding the expansion of time sharing. Mary
Shorack may file requests for judicial case management
conferences if additional court oversight is needed.
(Emphasis added.)
As a matter of law, the circuit court could not delegate its
authority to fashion timesharing to Ms. Shorak. See Lovell v. Lovell,
14 So. 3d 1111, 1114 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009) ("There is no legal basis
for allowing the children's therapist to make the final call on when
the new wife can be allowed to be in the presence of the children.
This determination is solely within the province of a court of law.");
Shugar v. Shugar, 924 So. 2d 941, 942 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) ("Courts
may not delegate their statutory authority to determine visitation to
GALs, attorneys, or experts." (citing McAlister v. Shaver, 633 So. 2d
494 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Wattles v. Wattles, 631 So. 2d 349 (Fla.
5th DCA 1994); Roski v. Roski, 730 So. 2d 413 (Fla. 2d DCA
1999); Scaringe v. Herrick, 711 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (Blue,
J., specially concurring))). Plainly, that is what the concluding
4
provision of the supplemental final judgment did, and for that
reason we must reverse the judgment on appeal.1
Accordingly, we reverse the supplemental final judgment in
part and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with
this opinion.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; and remanded.
CASANUEVA and BLACK, JJ., Concur.
1 The Mother's sole argument on appeal revolves around the
improper delegation of the circuit court's judicial determination to a
therapist. She does not challenge, and therefore we do not
consider, whether the circuit court could permissibly order her or
the minor child to participate in therapy in the underlying
proceeding. See Ford v. Ford, 153 So. 3d 315, 319 (Fla. 4th DCA
2014) ("The statute does give the court the authority to 'make
specific orders regarding the parenting plan and time-sharing
schedule as such orders relate to the circumstances of the parties
and the nature of the case and are equitable. . . .' ยง 61.13(5), Fla.
Stat. (2012). This provision, however, has never been interpreted to
give authority to order the parents into therapy.").
5