Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Will my spouse be responsible for paying my attorney’s fees in my Florida divorce? This is a question asked by many as they contemplate filing for a dissolution of marriage. The answer depends on the earning levels of both parties, as well as the behavior of each party during the litigation. This issue was appealed in the case Shaw v. Shaw, 1D20-1600 (Fla. 1st DCA February 18, 2021).
The parties were previously divorced and a supplemental petition for modification was filed. After what the appellate court noted was bitter litigation between the parties, the trial court denied the former wife’s request for attorney’s fees and costs. The reasoning was that it would teach both parties to handle their case more amicably next time they decided to seek relief in court. The former wife appealed on the basis that the trial court did not make any required findings to support its denial of her request for fees.
The appellate court agreed with the former wife that it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to deny her request for attorney’s fees. The court noted: “Former Husband suggests that one of the reasons the trial court ordered Former Wife to pay her own fees was as a sanction for her ‘litigiousness’ and her ‘spurious’ and ‘frivolous’ motions brought primarily to harass. [. . .] But even if the trial court had been so inclined to punish Former Wife, ‘[w]here a trial court intends the fee award to be a sanction for a party's actions, the fee order must contain sufficient findings to support the trial court's decision.’ [. . .] A similar sanction may be imposed based on the ‘inequitable conduct doctrine.’ In Greene v. Greene, 242 So. 3d 526 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), we acknowledged that a trial court "‘has authority to award attorney's fees under the inequitable conduct doctrine when a party has acted with egregious conduct or in bad faith.’ Id. at 527 (citing Bitterman v. Bitterman, 714 So. 2d 356, 365 (Fla. 1998)). We also stressed that ‘[s]uch an award is 'reserved for those extreme cases where a party acts in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons.’ [. . .] But even in these rare instances, ‘the trial court must make express findings of bad faith conduct, 'supported by detailed factual findings describing the specific acts of bad faith conduct that resulted in the unnecessary incurrence of attorneys' fees'" based on a ‘high degree of specificity.’”
The court went on, “In our view, however, the instant case does not present itself as one of those rare cases. In fact, despite noting that ‘everybody is asking for attorney fees because of litigious litigation,’ the trial court went on to state for the record that it could not ‘fault’ Former Wife for objecting to Former Husband's supplemental petition or for filing her motion to dismiss the petition and her motions for summary judgment. The court expressly found that she had a ‘good faith basis’ to argue those motions. Consequently, as there was absolutely no finding by the trial court of bad faith on the Former Wife's part, there was no basis on which the court could have denied Former Wife's motion for attorney's fees on the basis of the inequitable conduct doctrine.” Finally, the court concluded “Nevertheless, for whatever reason the trial court chose to order Former Wife to pay her own fees, it failed to make the requisite findings justifying its decision. We review a trial court's decision concerning attorney's fees for an abuse of discretion. Since the trial court neglected to make any findings on which to base its order that Former Wife pay her own attorney's fees, we have no choice but to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion.”
If you are wondering if your attorney’s fees will be paid in your Florida divorce case, contact a Miami family law attorney to discuss your situation. A consultation may help you decide the best way to proceed.