Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Can a Florida marital settlement agreement that was not ratified by a court order be enforced via a motion for contempt? In what was referred to by the appellate court as a “novel” case, a five-year lapse between an initial filing for divorce and a second petition for divorce created a tricky set of facts for a trial court to navigate in determining whether or not the former husband should be held in contempt of a marital settlement agreement. The case is Thilloy v. Ciccone-Capri, 3D18-1468 (Fla. 3d DCA November 27, 2019).
The parties initially sought a divorce in 2009 which resulted in them entering a settlement agreement in 2012. In 2013, because the parties failed to appear at a hearing or otherwise prosecute the case, the 2009 case was closed and the agreement was never incorporated in a final judgment or ratified by a court order. In 2017, the former husband filed a new petition for divorce. In response, the former wife filed a motion to enforce the 2012 agreement. The parties disputed the enforcement of the 2012 agreement, and after litigation, the trial court ultimately upheld the agreement and held the former husband in contempt of his child support and alimony obligations in the same. A final judgment was ultimately entered but the court never heard the former husband’s motion for modification of alimony and child support. The former husband appealed.
The appellate court reasoned the crux of this case boiled down to one main question: “[M]ay the contractual commitments of parties in a duly-executed MSA in a case dismissed (with no order approving or adopting the MSA in an order or judgment) be enforced several years later, but nunc pro tunc, in a subsequently filed second dissolution action?” The former husband argued the Florida Statutes establish that in order to be held in contempt of his contractual obligations, those obligations had to be court-ordered. The obligations for which he was held in contempt were not pursuant to a court order, but to a contract entered between the parties years before.
The appellate court ultimately agreed with the former husband, holding “While sharing the trial court's view that the Former Husband willfully disregarded his contractual undertakings in the 2012 MSA, we must disagree with the application of remedies for contempt to those breaches occurring before the trial court acquired jurisdiction in the second, current dissolution action. Contempt requires the contemnor's disobedience of a court order and may not be used to enforce what amounts to an intentional breach of a civil contract that has not been approved or adopted by a court. We thus vacate the contempt order and remand the case to the trial court for (a) enforcement of contractual remedies applicable to the period before the current action was filed, as available to creditors against debtors; (b) determination of appropriate amounts of alimony and child support in the current proceeding, after considering the Former Husband's petition for modification and evidence regarding the financial circumstances of the parties and other considerations detailed in Chapter 61, Florida Statutes; and (c) such other proceedings as are not inconsistent with this opinion.”
This case presents an interesting scenario which informs us on how Florida law will apply in future similar cases. If you have questions about whether or not your Florida marital settlement agreement is enforceable, schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney.