Full Faith and Credit: Fourth DCA Appeals Case

Have you obtained a probate judgment in another State or a   foreign country? Does the judgment need to be enforced in West Palm Beach for some reason? You may want to see what happened when a petitioner wanted to have a judgment honored from an Illinois Court in the Fourth District Court of Appeals for Florida.

Full Faith and Credit

• The Federal Constitution and most State Constitutions have a doctrine known as full faith and credit which means that other states have to enforce and honor the decisions of United States courts both state and Federal.
• Do you know if full faith and credit is automatic?
• Although the doctrine appears rather broad there are some intricacies.
• If you feel there was a procedural defect in your earlier foreign case you may be able to have the Florida courts dishonor the judgment.
• If this happens you may be entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the merits of your claim about the defects.
• Is your experienced Palm Beach probate litigator prepared to challenge a foreign judgment?
• Do you know how to conduct yourself in an evidentiary hearing?

Spano v. Wells Fargo

• In a recent case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeals the court was tasked with the question of whether to honor a foreign judgment from Illinois.
• The appellant tried to invalidate the judgment when they were not afforded an evidentiary hearing on the issue of personal jurisdiction.
• Ultimately the court found that this situation was not one where the judgment was entitled to full faith and credit.
• Is your experienced Palm Beach probate litigator prepared to set aside the foreign judgment?
• Setting a foreign judgment could mean a second bite at the apple do not let it go to waste.

Want to learn more?

Check out the whole case by clicking here.