Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Obtaining a final judgment of divorce in Florida which grants a party financial relief is the first step in getting support payments or property distribution. The next step is collecting the money due. Since there may be time limits which preclude a party from collecting on a judgment, collections should be sought right away. This time limit was an issue in the case Webb v. Webb, 2D19-3089 (Fla. 2d DCA August 28, 2020).
In 1997, the parties entered a marital settlement agreement which was incorporated into a final judgment of divorce the same year. The agreement provided that the former husband would make installment payments for equitable distribution to the former wife beginning in 2001. The former husband did not make these payments. One day before the 20th anniversary of the entry of the final judgment, the former wife filed a motion to enforce the judgment, asking that all sums due to her be paid by the former husband. The main point of contention between the parties in this action was what statute of limitations applied to the former wife’s claim. The former husband argued a 5-year deadline should apply while the former wife argued a 20-year deadline should apply. The trial court agreed with the former wife and the former husband appealed.
The appellate court upheld the trial court’s ruling, holding “When a marital settlement agreement is incorporated into a final judgment and the court entering the judgment retains jurisdiction to enforce it, enforcement of the agreement through the judgment is generally subject to section 95.11(1)'s twenty-year statute of limitations. When considering which statute of limitations should apply, it is the nature of the relief a party seeks—in this case, enforcement of a judgment—that forms an essential query. [internal citations omitted]. Here, the Former Wife's motion was entitled ‘Motion to Enforce Final Judgment,’ and it asked the court to enforce the Divorce Judgment. The fact that the precise provision she sought enforcement of was found within an agreement that was incorporated by reference into the Divorce Judgment did not in any way eclipse her ability to enforce that judgment as a judgment.”
The court went on to hold “The mere fact that a marital settlement agreement retains some legal existence apart from a dissolution judgment that incorporates it does not denude the judgment of its efficacy. The Former Husband has not articulated any reason why it should. Nor do any of the case authorities he has marshalled offer any clue. We can think of no reason why the continued legal existence of a marital settlement agreement that expressly authorized its incorporation into a court judgment should deprive a party - 11 - of the ability to enforce the resulting judgment, qua judgment, where, as here, the court both incorporated the agreement and reserved jurisdiction to enforce its terms. For us to hold otherwise would require us to depart from settled Florida precedent, diminish the family court's continuing jurisdiction to enforce its judgments, and deprive these parties of the benefit of their bargain. We decline the invitation to do so and affirm the circuit court's judgment in all respects.”
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