Rossi v. Rossi

In Rossi v. Rossi, the trial court adopted the report of the general magistrate, despite the filing by the Wife of a Motion for Rehearing. The Motion should have been considered Exceptions, and thus a hearing should have been held before adopting the report and recommendations. With respect to the characterization of motions, Florida courts place substance over form. In other words, if the motion is mislabeled, the court will look to the substance of the motion, not the label. The mislabeling of a motion will not preclude consideration. Had the trial court considered the mislabeling and properly characterized the motion as exception, the exceptions were timely filed. Thus, error was committed by the trial court.

Rossi v Rossi