Hollis and Hiroaki Kobayashi were married in Japan in 1981. Hollis lives and works in Dade County, and her husband Hiroaki works mainly in Japan. She filed for divorce in 1996 and was granted a substantial award of money and property after her husband failed to respond to the divorce petition. Later, Hiroaki was held in contempt and ordered to jail for failure to pay $138,560 to his former wife. He contends he does not have the money to pay. When he tried to appeal the order, the Third District Court declined to accept the case. He now asks the Supreme Court to order the District Court to take the case.