1 Supreme Court

No. 2018

- 304

- Appeal. (P 11

- 236)

Ana T sonos :

v

. :

Nicholas T sonos

. :

O R D E R
This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to
appear and show cause why the issue s raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. The

defendant, Nicholas Tsonos
, appeals from a Family Court order granting the motion of the
plaintiff, Ana Tsonos
, to relocate to Florida with the parties’ three minor children

. After
considering the parties’ written and oral submissions and reviewing the record, and in light of

information revealed at oral argument, we dismiss this appeal as moot.
Comprehensive details on th is case are available i n Tsonos v. Tsonos , No. 2018

- 150
, ---

A.3d

--- (R.I. 2019). Ana and Nicholas 1 were married i n August 2003, and they had three children.

Ana filed for divorce i n February 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. The parties entered into
a marital settlement agreement i n August 2011, and final judgment entered in the divorce on
February 14, 2012. The agreement provid ed , among other terms, that the parties share joint

1 We refer to the parties in this case by their first names for the sake of clarity because they share the same surname. We intend no disrespect by doing so.2

custody of their three minor children and assigned physical possession to Ana with visitation for

Nicholas.
On April 25, 2018, prior to the above appeal being docketed in this Court, Ana filed a

motion in the Family Court to relocate to Florida wi th the three children, and Nicholas objected.
The case was docketed in this Court, and we remanded it to the Family Court on June 28 , 2018.
The motion was heard on July 19, 2018, during which hearing Ana testified that she wished to

relocate because she had received a job offer to be a fourth

- grade teacher at a public school in Fort
Myers, Florida. The trial justice granted Ana’s motion in a bench decision rendered on July 26,

2018
, and Nicholas filed a notice of appeal

. During oral argument before this Court on October 3, 2019, Ana’s counsel represented that

Ana had not accept ed the job in Florida and is currently working at a private school in Providence

. The issues raised in the instant appeal are therefore moot because Ana is no longer s eeking to

relocate to Florida; the trial justice’s decision was based upon Ana’s testimony regarding a
particular job offer in Florida and the logistics of moving to Florida, but ultimately Ana did not

move

. The order of the Family Court no longer has any effect. Accordingly, we dismiss this
appeal and remand the record of the case to the Family Court.

Entered as an O rder of this Court this 18th day of December , 2019.
By Order,

_________________________________ Clerk /s/SU

‐ CMS

‐ 02B (revised November 2016) STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS

SUPREME COURT

– CLERK’S OFFICE

ORDER COVER SHEET

Title of Case Ana Tsonos v. Nicholas Tsonos.

Case Number No. 2018-304-Appeal. (P 11-236)
Date Order Filed December 18, 2019

Justices Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and Inde g lia, JJ. Source of Appeal Providence County Family Court

Judicial Officer From Lower Court General Magistrate Felix E. Gill

Attorney(s) on Appeal For Plaintiff:

Tiffinay A. Antoch, Esq. For Defendant:

Nicholas Tsonos, Pro Se