Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

When a party violates a Florida marital settlement agreement, what remedies are available to the other party? Depending on what provision of an agreement was violated, the innocent party may be able to move for contempt or enforcement. This was an issue in the case Smith v. Short, 2D20-3506 (Fla. 2d DCA December 29, 2021).

As part of the parties’ divorce, they entered a marital settlement agreement in which the former wife bought out the former husband’s interest in a marine towing company. Subsequently, they entered another agreement in which the former husband agreed, among other things, not to "make any derogatory comments or other oral or written statements that would be detrimental to the business of the LLC or to the [Former Wife] individually or which could adversely [a]ffect the business of the LLC and the [Former Wife]." The period of non-interference was set to expire in about five years from the date of the agreement. The agreement was ratified by court order.

The former wife later filed a motion for contempt, enforcement, injunctive relief and sanctions alleging that the former husband posted disparaging comments about the LLC on his social media account. She provided evidence at the hearing on the motion that the former husband’s social media “friends” included individuals who did business with the LLC or were aware of the LLC. The former husband admitted at the trial that he posted the comments to his social media but claimed they referred to another similar business near the LLC. The trial court did not find the former husband to be credible and granted the motion. The trial court ordered the former husband to “immediately and permanently cease any and all social media posts, remove existing posts within twenty-four (24) hours of the date and time of this Order and further contact any and all other of his Facebook friends who reacted to and/or commented and/or shared his post, notifying them of the entry of this Permanent Injunction.” The order stated its terms would apply for as long as the former wife continued to operate her business in Southwest Florida. The former husband appealed, arguing the injunction was overly broad.

Citing Smith v. Wiker, 192 So. 3d 603, 604 (Fla. 2d DCA 8 2016), the appellate court noted, "[A] court should not issue an injunction broader than necessary to protect the injured party under the particular circumstances." The court reversed the injunction, holding “We readily conclude that the injunction is overbroad. As the Former Husband contends, this provision in the injunction is intended to prevent him from interfering with the LLC, as contemplated by the noninterference agreement, but its plain language precludes him from posting anything on social media, regardless of what it concerns, and requires him to remove all existing posts, regardless of what they concern. Accordingly, we reverse the injunction and instruct the trial court on remand to narrowly tailor this provision to prevent interference with the LLC.”

This case shows us the limits on certain type of relief. Schedule a consultation with a Miami divorce lawyer to understand your options in enforcing your Florida marital settlement agreement.