Florida Woman Petitions Appeals Court Over Disputed Order to Sell Protected Homestead Property

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Teresa Gaffney is a Tampa resident who has spent more than 11 years fighting to keep her constitutionally protected homestead property. Recently, Ms. Gaffney filed a Petition for Writ of Prohibition, Mandamus, and Certiorari with Florida's Second District Court of Appeal in order to challenge a June 25, 2025, order that was issued by Circuit Judge James Barton. The order that is contested by Ms. Gaffney directed the sale of Gaffney's home, imposed sanctions in excess of $100,000.00, and barred her and her attorneys from submitting any further filings. The petition argues that the order issued on June 25, 2025, was issued without jurisdiction and in violation of Florida's homestead protections and in violation of due process laws.

The petition seeks to block further action by Judge Barton, as his order violates Florida's homestead protections, disregards mandatory protections under Florida Statute § 222.01, is legally void and is expressing to Court of Appeals a broader pattern of judicial misconduct.

"This ongoing pattern of disregarding homestead protections and denying Ms. Gaffney her right to be heard on her Constitutionally protect right of Homestead is unlawful and an outright, blatant violation of her constitutional rights," said Ms. Gaffney's counsel, James J. Macchitelli. "With no lawful determination of homestead, the court has no authority to take and sell her home, as no title insurer will insure the sale without a determination of Homestead."

In June of 2009, Ms. Gaffney's father filed an executed and irrevocable life estate deed with remainder to Ms. Gaffney. Upon the death of Ms. Gaffney's father in 2011, the real property passed immediately to Ms. Gaffney as it was never an asset of the estate. Yet, Judge Barton is allowing the property to be unlawfully treated as an asset of the estate and allowing the property to be sold to pay the creditor that has acted as the Administrator Ad Litem.

"Florida law is clear: homestead property conveyed by life estate deed isn't part of the probate estate. Yet despite this, Ms. Gaffney's home has been treated as if those protections don't exist," said Mr. Macchitelli. "This fight is about standing up to a system that's ignored the law and silenced Ms. Gaffney at every turn. If this can happen to her, it can happen to anyone."

Ms. Gaffney's position is supported by University of Florida law professor Danaya C. Wright, a preeminent authority on Florida homestead and probate law, who released an expert report stating that no order ever legally determined the property was not homestead, and that all court actions purporting to affect the homestead property were "legally erroneous and void."

As part of her ongoing legal fight, on August 8, 2025, Ms. Gaffney filed a response in the appellate court opposing a motion by court-appointed Administrator Ad Litem Michael Kangas, who asked the court to return the case to the lower court to amend the June 25 order so he could later seek attorney's fees and costs. Ms. Gaffney calls this motion "frivolous, vexatious, and part of a broader pattern of abusive litigation" aimed at unlawfully seizing her homestead property.

Additionally, Ms. Gaffney is asking the Second District Court of Appeals to issue a writ of mandamus compelling Judge Barton to recognize the homestead exemption, accept and rule on all filings as required by law, and vacate the June 25, 2025, order as void ab initio; and a writ of certiorari to quash the June 25 order. She also requests any other relief the court deems just and appropriate.

The petition is currently pending before the appellate court. Ms. Gaffney hopes this appeal not only restores her rights but also sets a precedent that safeguards other Florida families from similar overreach.

The full appendix is available here.

SOURCE Teresa Gaffney