Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

Even after a Florida marital settlement agreement is entered, parties can be back in court for enforcement issues or clarification of terms of the agreement. When a party does not follow the agreement, that party may be subject to contempt of court or enforcement remedies. In the case Schuenzel v. Schuenzel, 3D19-2377 (Fla. 3d DCA February 17, 2021), former spouses were back in court on the issue of the former wife’s failure to pay certain expenses toward the marital home.

The parties were divorced in 2003, and their marital settlement agreement obligated the former wife to make mortgage, tax, and insurance payments toward the home. The former wife failed to make these payments, and the former husband, in an effort to protect his credit, made the payments. The former wife at some point moved out of the home and the parties began renting the house. In 2016 the house was sold, and the proceeds of the sale were held in the former husband’s attorney’s trust account pending the court’s determination of the former husband’s claim for money owed to him for the payments he made on the former wife’s behalf. The trial court ultimately found the former husband was owed approximately $66,000 for payments he made that the former wife should have made per the terms of the parties’ settlement agreement. The court awarded the former husband prejudgment interest on this amount starting from July 2018 when the tenant moved into the home. The former wife appealed.

The appellate court determined the court’s calculation of interest was error. It held “[W]e are compelled to reverse that portion of the trial court's order determining that the Former Husband is entitled to prejudgment interest on the $66,558.42 in mortgage, insurance, and tax payments, with such interest accruing from ‘July 2008 when the tenant moved into the house.’ Our de novo review of the record indicates that the Former Husband made these payments - which were required by the MSA to be made by the Former Wife - between July 2006 and March 2010. The purpose of prejudgment interest is to make the plaintiff whole from the date of the loss, to compensate him for losing the use of his money during that period. Once the finder of fact sets the amount of damages, ‘the damages are retroactively considered liquidated damages, and the plaintiff is entitled to prejudgment interest back to the date that the damages were due.’ Hence, prejudgment interest on the Former Husband's mortgage, insurance, and tax payments should be calculated separately for each payment. These calculations should be based on the date of each payment made by the Former Husband that, pursuant to the terms of the MSA, should have been made by the Former Wife.” (internal citations omitted).

Enforcing a marital settlement agreement requires examination of the terms of the contract. Schedule a consultation with a Miami divorce lawyer to go over the facts of your case and to understand how the law may apply.