Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

What happens when a court premises its ruling on a prior order which has been reversed by an appellate court? This was an issue in the case Kritzman v. Kritzman, 3D22-1418 (Fla. 3d DCA February 28, 2024). The parties’ marital settlement agreement obligated the former husband to pay permanent alimony to the former wife amounting to one-third of his annual income. The former wife filed a motion to enforce alleging the former husband had not paid. The former husband was eventually ordered to pay $2,000 per month toward his arrears and an equitable lien was placed on his retirement account to secure the arrearages.

The former wife filed further motions for contempt and the trial court ordered the former husband to pay $4,000 per month, half of which was paid toward arrears. It ordered that half be paid by income deduction order and the other half be paid from the former husband’s retirement account. The payment from the retirement account was premised on the prior equitable lien placed on the account. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court reversed only as to the payment ordered from the retirement account. This was because that part of the order was premised on an earlier order which was reversed on appeal - the appellate court previously ruled the equitable lien placed on the retirement account originally was levied in error. The court concluded “Here, the order on appeal (which was entered before the trial court had the benefit of the opinion in Kritzman I) does not impose an equitable lien; however, it directs that $2,000 be paid on a monthly basis from the former husband’s 401k accounts. Thus, the issue lies in the fact that part of the order (i.e., the direction that money be withdrawn from the 401k accounts) is premised upon the imposition of the equitable lien established in the trial court’s prior order, which served as the basis for reversal in Kritzman I. Thus, because of the reversal in part as to the equitable lien in Kritzman I, we are compelled to reverse as to the portion of the order on appeal that directs the former husband to pay $2,000 in arrears from his 401k accounts.”

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