Aрpellant seeks review of an “Amended Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage,” which appears to be final except for an express reservation of jurisdiction to consider thе division of the parties’ marital personal property. This reservation clearly indicаtes that additional judicial labor is required in the cause and, therefore, the order on appeal is not ap-pealable as a final order.
See Caufield v. Cantele,
In response to our order to show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed as premature, Appellant argued that the reservation of jurisdiction over the divisiоn of personal property is collateral to, and in no way alters, the final nature оf the order on appeal with respect to the dissolution, award of alimony and child support, and equitable distribution of other property. In support of this argument, Appellant relied entirely on
Gaines v. Sayne,
In Gaines, the court resolved a conflict between the district courts regarding the еffect that the death of a party has on a proceeding for dissolution of marriage. Id. at 579. The court held that the adjudication of dissolution in the order on review was effectivе to dissolve the marriage because it completed the judicial labor on the issue оf dissolution before the death of a party. Id. at 586. This holding was based on the conclusion that judiсial labor on the dissolution issue was complete despite a pending rehearing motiоn on the “collateral” issue of equitable distribution. Id.
Gaines did not affect the traditional test of finality for purpose of appeal. The court noted that “procedural rules establishеd to determine finality for the purpose of seeking rehearing or appeal do nоt necessarily affect the efficacy of a validly entered decree.” Id. at 585. Logiсally, the inverse is also true; the efficacy of a validly entered decree of dissolutiоn does not necessarily affect the application of procedural rules established to determine finality for purposes of appeal. Therefore, although substantively the order on appeal may have the effect of terminating the marriage аnd finally adjudicating certain issues, procedurally it does not bring an end to the judicial labor required in the cause such that the order is appealable as a final order.
In response to our order to show cause why the cross-appeal should not also be dismissed as premature, Appellee acknowledged that that order on appeal is not final for purposes of appellate review, but he requested that in lieu of dismissal, we abate the appeal and relinquish jurisdiction to the trial court for entry of a final order pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(£). We routinely relinquish jurisdiction under this rule when it appears that the jurisdictional defect in the order on appeal is technicаl in nature and merely requires an amended order clarifying that all of the issues between the parties had been finally resolved. In this case, however, an indeterminate amount of judicial labor, possibly requiring another hearing, remains to be done before a final order cаn be entered, and the asserted grounds for relinquishing
jurisdiction
— i.e., duplication of effort and additional filing fees — do not present an exceptional circumstance that would justify the relief Ap-рellee requested.
See Benton v. Moore,
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal and cross-appeal are dismissed without prejudice to either party’s right to file a
DISMISSED.
