LORI ECOTT, APPELLANT,
v.
RICHARD ECOTT, APPELLEE
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PER CURIAM.
This appeal is brought from an order denying a Motion for Contempt and Judgment for Arrears.
Once the movant in a civil contempt proceeding for failure to pay child support or alimony shows that the party who was directed to make such payments by a prior court order has defaulted, the defaulting party has the burden of dispelling “the presumption of ability to pay by demonstrating that, due to circumstances beyond his control which intervened since the time the order directing him to pay was entered, he no longer has the ability to meet his support obligations.” Bowen v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274, 1278-79 (Fla.1985). At a hearing on the ex-wife’s motion for contempt the ex-husband failed to show an inability to comply with the final judgment requiring him to pay rehabilitative alimony and attorney’s fees to the ex-wife. In fact, events after entry of the final judgment show that the ex-husband has an increased ability to comply based on a substantial pay increase.
The cause is reversed and remanded with instructions to the trial court to proceed on the ex-wife’s motion for contempt.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Laing v. Laing, 574 So. 2d 279 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…ity to pay the purge amount. Bowen, 471 So. 2d at 1278. The former husband acknowledged that he bore the burden to rebut the presumption that he has the present ability to pay where, as here, a previous court order so found. Id.; see Ecott v. Ecott, 509 So. 2d 388 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). At the hearing below, the trial court took the position that the 1987 order was res judicata on the issue of present ability to pay — including present ability to pay in 1990. On that basis the trial court made a finding that th…
Authorities Cited
- Eugenia Bowen & the Fla. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274 (Fla. 1985)