Note Merges Into Judgment & "cause’s independent existence terminates"

In Weston Orlando Park, Inc. v. Fairwinds Credit Union (5D11-2260), the Fifth District affirmed the trial Court's judgment with one exception. That exception is copied below:

The trial court could not reserve jurisdiction on Fairwinds’s claims for breach ofthe promissory notes, separate from the claims for foreclosure, because the debtrepresented by the notes had merged into the final judgment. The doctrine of mergerprovides that when a valid and final judgment is rendered in favor of a plaintiff, theoriginal debt or cause of action upon which an adjudication is predicated merges intothe final judgment, and, consequently, the cause’s independent existence terminates.