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Cecil Angelica IGLESIAS, Appellant, v. Sergio IGLESIAS, Appellee.
UPON CONFESSION OF ERROR
Appellant, Cecil Angelica Iglesias, challenges a default and default final judgment entered in favor of appellee, Sergio Iglesias, rendered following the voluntary dismissal of the underlying action. As the lower tribunal entered both the default and ensuing default final judgment in the absence of the requisite “ ‘notice of application’ provided by [Florida Rule of Civil Procedure] 1.500(b),” appellant indeed filed “paper” below, Cohen v. Barnett Bank of South Florida, N.A., 433 So. 2d 1354, 1355 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), and the “voluntary dismissal serve[d] to terminate the litigation [and] to instantaneously divest the court of its jurisdiction to enter or entertain further orders that would otherwise dispose of the case on the merits,” Pino v. Bank of New York, 121 So. 3d 23, 32 (Fla. 2013), based upon our independent review of the record and appellee's commendable confession of error, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See Pino, 121 So. 3d at 32 (“It is well accepted that the effect of a plaintiff's voluntary dismissal under rule 1.420(a)(1) is jurisdictional.”); Randle-E. Ambulance Serv., Inc. v. Vasta, 360 So. 2d 68, 69 (Fla. 1978) (“The effect [of a voluntary dismissal pursuant to rule 1.420(a) ] is to remove completely from the court's consideration the power to enter an order, equivalent in all respects to a deprivation of ‘jurisdiction.’ ”); Cohen, 433 So. 2d at 1354-55 (finding that a party who has filed a “paper” in the action is entitled to adequate notice of the application for default under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.500(b), and that the notice should be “given in sufficient time to permit some meaningful action to be taken upon it after its receipt”); see also Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.500(b) (“[T]he court may enter a default against [a party against whom affirmative relief is sought]; provided that if such party has filed or served any document in the action, that party must be served with notice of the application for default.”); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.080(a) (“[A]ll orders, and every other document filed in the action must be served in conformity with the requirements of Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516.”).
Reversed and remanded.
MILLER, J.
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Docket No: No. 3D18-2495
Decided: October 02, 2019
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
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