Larwa v. Dept. of Revenue

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED FRANK P. LARWA, Appellant, v. Case No. 5D14-4039 DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE O/B/O LYNNE M. ROUSH, Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed June 26, 2015 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Volusia County, Shawn L. Briese, Judge. Frank P. Larwa, Ormond Beach, pro se. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and William H. Branch, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. Frank Larwa appeals a final order that extended his child support obligation to his eighteen-year-old son. The Department of Revenue concedes error. Once a child is emancipated, the trial court loses subject matter jurisdiction to modify a child support obligation within the existing child support arrangement by extending support past age eighteen. Although an independent action may be brought to adjudicate support of an adult dependent child, that cause of action belongs to the dependent person, who may bring the action in accordance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.210(b). See Dep’t of HRS v. Holland, 602 So. 2d 652, 655 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992). Here, because the supplemental petition was filed when Larwa’s son was over eighteen years of age, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to extend Larwa’s child support obligation. Accordingly, we reverse. REVERSED. PALMER, COHEN, and BERGER, JJ., concur. 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.