Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

Can a court award relief not requested by either party in their motions or at a hearing? Generally, no. Parties are entitled to due process in Florida family law proceedings which means they are entitled to be put on notice of what issues are being considered at a hearing before a court can rule on them. This way, parties can prepare to defend against allegations. This was an issue in the case Cruz v. Matos, 4D22-700 (Fla. 4th DCA February 8, 2023).

As part of their divorce proceedings, the parties entered a marital settlement agreement which required the former husband to pay the former wife alimony until the wife remarried. The former wife remarried in January 2021. She filed a motion for contempt alleging the former husband did not pay alimony between October 2020 and January 2021. The former husband admitted he did not pay during this period, alleging financial hardship. The former wife stated at the hearing she wanted the court to order the former husband to pay her the three months of unpaid alimony. During the proceedings, the court took judicial notice of the parties’ marriage settlement case. The court determined there was unpaid alimony dating back to 2016 and entered an order against the former husband for these amounts. The former husband appealed, arguing it was error for the court to award relief not requested by either party.

The appellate court agreed with the former husband and reversed the order, holding “Former wife neither claimed nor sought unpaid alimony for any period prior to October 2020, either in her motion or at the hearing on her motion. Nonetheless, the trial court, on its own initiative, took judicial notice of former husband’s alimony payment history and ordered former husband to compensate former wife for the difference in alimony owed and alimony paid during the entirety of the period between December 9, 2016 and January 7, 2021. By including pre-October 2020 alimony obligations in its calculation, the trial court’s award went beyond what was requested in the pleadings. And because the pre-October 2020 amount of alimony due was raised by the trial court in its final judgment on its own initiative, it was not tried by consent of the parties. The trial court erred when it granted this relief.”

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