Gerald R. Shurman v. Atlantic Mortgage & Investment Corporation

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida held that an incarcerated defendant's "usual place of abode" for purposes of substituted service under section 48.031(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), is the prison where the defendant is actually living at the time of service. Because service on Gerald Shurman's wife at their former marital residence was invalid, the court quashed the Fifth District's decision and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. For purposes of substituted service under section 48.031(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), a person's usual place of abode is the place where the person is actually living at the time of service. For an incarcerated defendant, that place is the prison, not the defendant's former residence where family members continue to live.
2. Because Shurman was not served at his usual place of abode, substituted service was invalid and the foreclosure judgment as to his interest could not stand.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an incarcerated defendant's usual place of abode under section 48.031(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), is the prison where the defendant is actually living at the time of service or the former marital residence where the defendant's family continues to reside.
2. Whether substituted service on the defendant's wife at the former marital residence was valid and conferred jurisdiction over the defendant.

Disposition

quashed