Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

When the parties to a Florida divorce sign a settlement agreement, they are held to the terms of the agreement much like any other contract parties enter. In the case Forest v. Estate of Kohl, 4D18-3734 (Fla. 4th DCA October 23, 2019), at issue was a settlement release and the former wife’s effort to enforce it.

The parties entered a settlement agreement that included a mutual release for all liabilities, sums and amounts that were due or may be due to the other party. Despite this, the former husband’s estate pursued post-judgment collections efforts against the former wife. Focusing on one sentence in the multiple-paragraph release, the trial court denied the former wife’s motion for enforcement of the order, holding the release did not protect her from the post-judgment collection efforts. The former wife appealed.

Reviewing the trial court’s interpretation of the contract de novo, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s order, holding the settlement agreement was clear and unambiguous as to the release of liability. The court reasoned, “The circuit court's overlooking of the other three paragraphs was error. See Goff v. Kenney-Goff, 145 So. 3d 928, 929-30 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) (‘In interpreting a contract, it must be assumed that each clause has some purpose and the court should interpret the contract in such a way as to give effect to every provision, unless such an interpretation distorts the plain meaning of the agreement.’) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the plain meaning of the agreement was to ‘end all matters presently pending in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Martin County . . . and presently pending in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Indian River County’ and to ‘preclud[e] forever any further or additional matters or claims against [the former wife's counsel] or [the former wife].’ To rule otherwise would be to improperly rewrite terms that are clear and unambiguous.”

Sometimes entering a settlement agreement in a Florida divorce is just the beginning. Parties may have to return to court to enforce the terms of the agreement or to clear up ambiguities in it. Before you enter a settlement agreement, schedule a consultation with a Miami divorce lawyer to go over the contract to minimize the risk of having to return to court to clarify it.