M.M. v. Dept. of Children

Full title: M.M., Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: Mar 28, 2001

780 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Opinion

Nos. 4D00-3491, 4D00-3492.

Opinion filed March 28, 2001.

Consolidated appeals from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; John T. Luzzo, Judge; L.T. Case No. 88-5392 CJDP.

Kathleen K. Pena of Law Offices of Kathleen K. Pena, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant-M.M. Denise E. Kistner of Law Offices of Denise E. Kistner, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant-A.H. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Jill Bennett, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

In these consolidated appeals, a mother and father each appeal a final judgment terminating their parental rights based on their failure to appear at a hearing. The department properly concedes that the defects in the notice require reversal and a remand to the trial court for further proceedings, regardless of the merits of any of the other issues on appeal.

We agree. Accordingly, the order is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.

Gunther, Farmer and Klein, JJ., Concur.