Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

When a party wins an appeal in a Florida family law case, what happens next? The appellate court usually issues instructions to the trial court in its order. At that point, “the trial court’s role is ‘purely ministerial, and its function is limited to obeying the appellate court’s order or decree.’” J.M. v. A.J.D., 3D20-1118 (Fla. 3d DCA January 12, 2022) (citing Torres v. Jones, 652 So. 2d 893, 894 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)).

In the underlying case involving child support, the father was ordered to pay over $3,000 per month in temporary child support until trial. The father defaulted on this obligation multiple times requiring a motion for enforcement or contempt to be filed. The hearing officer on the trial level determined arrears to be due and ordered the father to continue paying. The father appealed, but the appellate court upheld the ruling below and denied the appeal. The mother then filed a motion to enforce mandate with the appellate court, citing the father’s continued refusal to follow the court’s order to pay.

The appellate court granted the mother’s motion, holding “In her motion to enforce the mandate, the mother contends the father remains delinquent in his obligations. The father inexplicably responds by attempting to further litigate the propriety of our underlying decision and further contends the mother has unclean hands because she has refused to accept a subsequent settlement offer. Although the parties have differing views with regard to the chronology of the case and it is indisputable that substantial delays have been precipitated by a succession of trial court judges, it is axiomatic that the father has yet to satisfy the arrearages. Accordingly, we grant the motion to enforce the mandate and direct the trial court to swiftly take affirmative steps to require compliance with our mandate.[internal citation omitted]. This includes calculating the arrearages that are due and enforcing payment of the delinquent support obligations.”

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