Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

Payment of attorney’s fees and alimony are two issues that are common in Florida divorce cases. Whether a court will order one party to pay the other party’s fees, and whether alimony will be awarded depends on many factors. A common consideration in deciding both is need and ability to pay. Alimony and attorney’s fees were issues in the case Watrel v. Watrel, 1D19-3741 (Fla. 1st DCA November 10, 2021).

The parties were married for 22 years before the former husband filed for divorce. The former wife stopped working during the parties’ marriage to care for their daughter who had special needs. The former husband was an attorney. They also had another child who was a teenager at the time the divorce was finalized. The child who had special needs was an adult, and the former husband had sole responsibility over her residential and financial care. The trial court awarded $10,000 per month in permanent alimony to the former wife, as well as $6,500 per month in child support. The former husband was also ordered to pay half of the former wife’s $130,000 attorney’s fee bill. Both parties appealed.

The appellate court first took up the former husband’s argument that the court failed to impute income to the former wife in calculating alimony and child support. The court agreed with the former husband, holding “At trial, the former wife and a vocational rehabilitation specialist presented evidence of the former wife’s wage-earning capacity. Based on that evidence, the court found that the former wife’s current wage-earning capacity is $35,200 annually. Yet the record does not reflect that the trial court included any imputed income in its determination of the alimony award. This was error.”

Turning to the former wife’s argument that the court failed to make required findings in denying her full request for attorney’s fees, the appellate court agreed with her on this point, holding “We agree with the former wife that the trial court’s failure to adequately explain the basis for its fee award impedes meaningful appellate review. As this Court has explained, ‘an attorney’s fee award under section 61.16, Florida Statutes, must include specific findings of fact to support and explain the award. The absence of such findings requires reversal of the fee award and a remand for specific findings of fact to support the fee award.’ [. . .] Here, even if the trial court intended to grant the former wife only partial attorney’s fees as a sanction for excessive and unnecessary billing by her attorney, it failed to directly quantify the portion and nature of the fees incurred as a result of this conduct. Without more, the $65,000 award appears arbitrary.”

Schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to the factors in your case.