Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

What happens when a Court’s oral ruling is different from the written order in a Florida family law case? Sometimes, a judge will rule one way orally at a hearing and ask the lawyers to prepare an order memorializing what the judge said. The order signed by the judge therefore may be different from what the judge said. According to a recent appellate case “When a trial court’s written order is inconsistent with its earlier oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement generally controls and the written order must be reversed.” Johansson v. Johansson, 4D21-3343 (Fla. 4th DCA September 21, 2022).

In this post-divorce case, the parties were litigating the issue of a refund from a joint tax return filed during the marriage. A 2017 tax refund of over $150,000 was deposited into the former wife’s attorney’s trust account, and this amount included a refund from the parties’ joint 2016 tax return. The court orally ruled the former husband was entitled to half of the refund from the 2016 filing, but because there were insufficient funds in the trust account to distribute to each party their full half of the 2016 and 2017 refunds, the court reduced each party’s award by one-half of the deficit. The written order, however, stated the former husband would not receive any funds from the trust account. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court held “Here, the court’s written order is inconsistent with its earlier oral pronouncement as to the former husband’s distribution from the trust account representing his share of the overpayment from 2016. The court orally ruled that the former husband was entitled to $12,305.50, after adjusting for the apparent deficit in the trust account. In its written order, however, the court ruled that nothing would be distributed as to the overpayment from 2016 because all the funds in the trust account were to be distributed to account for the parties’ separate and distinct entitlement to the 2017 overpayment. This ruling was entered without an intervening evidentiary hearing. We therefore reverse the written order as to this issue. On remand, the court shall amend the written order to conform to its prior oral pronouncement.”

Schedule your meeting with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to the facts of your case.