Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure

When parties reach a stipulation in a Florida divorce case, this means they agree on something. Usually, stipulations are upheld by the court. Stipulations can save time and money since the parties will not have to spend time proving the subject of the stipulation. The power of such an agreement is illustrated in the case McVety v. McVety, 2D18-2250 (Fla. 2d DCA April 15, 2020).

The trial court ordered the former husband to pay over $180,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to the former wife as part of their final judgment of divorce. The former husband appealed. Included in this amount was over $45,000 in accounting fees. The former husband contended it was error to include this amount in the total when the trial court record established the parties stipulated that only $28,000 of the accounting fees were reasonable.

The appellate court reversed this portion of the fee award holding “It is clear from the transcript of the February 2017 hearing that the parties stipulated to $28,000 in accounting costs for the former wife. Thus, it was error for the trial court to disregard that stipulation and order the former husband to pay $45,401.50 in accounting costs. See Johnson v. Johnson, 663 So. 2d 663, 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) (holding that a stipulation that has been properly entered into should be enforced by the courts and recognizing ‘the value which stipulations bring to the legal system in terms of simplifying issues, limiting or shortening litigation, saving costs to the parties, and preserving judicial economy and resources’ [citation omitted]; Lift v. Lift, 1 So. 3d 259, 261 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (‘Because appropriately made stipulations entered into by the parties are generally binding on the court as well as on the parties, the court erred in failing to follow them.’).”

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