STANLEY EDWARD FORREST, APPELLANT,
v.
ANN JOY FORREST, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Florida court affirmed enforcement of Virginia custody decree against father who retained daughter in Florida and ordered him to pay mother's travel expenses, attorney's fees, and court costs under Fla. Stat. § 61.1332(2).
A parent who violates a foreign custody decree by retaining a child in Florida must pay the custodial parent's necessary expenses and attorney's fees without requiring proof of willful intent to violate the decree.
[1] Violation of a foreign custody decree requires only general intent to perform an act that violates the decree, not specific willfulness or intent to violate.
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A person violating a custody decree of another state which makes it necessary to enforce the decree in this state may be required to pay necessary travel and other expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by the party entitled to the custody or his witnesses.”
Statutory provision establishing liability for expenses and attorney's fees in custody decree violations.
A Virginia divorce decree awarded the mother custody of the minor daughter. The father, during the child's visit to Florida, retained her and enrolled…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Family Law cases and more on FLexlaw
COWART, Judge.
A Virginia divorce decree gave the mother custody of a minor daughter of the parties. The child visited her father in Florida. The father retained her and enrolled her in school here, rather than returning her to her mother in Virginia. In an action brought by the mother in Florida, the trial judge enforced the custody provision of the foreign decree, ordered the father to surrender the daughter to her mother and entered a judgment in favor of the mother for $400 expenses, $500 as a contribution toward the mother’s attorney’s fees and $201.50 court costs. The father appeals, contending he did not “willfully violate” the Virginia decree and that the award of expenses, costs and attorney’s fees was unauthorized and improper. We disagree and affirm.
Section 61.1332(2), Florida Statutes (1981), provides:
A person violating a custody decree of another state which makes it necessary to enforce -the decree in this state may be required to pay necessary travel and other expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by the party entitled to the custody or his witnesses.
That statute requires no special willfulness or specific intent to violate a custody decree but only a general intent to do an act, or omit to do an act, which does in fact violate the’custody decree.
AFFIRMED.
FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr. and SHARP, JJ., concur.