TRISTA ELAN ROBINSON-WILSON, APPELLANT,
v.
PRESTON J.R. WILSON, IV, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2006-02-08
No. 4D05-312
GUNTHER and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
932 So. 2d 330 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2006) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

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.

Synopsis

Former wife Robinson-Wilson was held in contempt for repeatedly interfering with the former husband's visitation rights with their daughter. The court awarded the former husband attorney's fees and costs, which the appellate court affirmed on both statutory and equitable grounds.


Holding

The trial court properly awarded attorney's fees and costs under both section 61.13(4)(c)1, Florida Statutes, which does not require consideration of financial resources when a custodial parent wrongfully refuses visitation, and under the inequitable conduct doctrine based on the former wife's bad faith conduct.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may order a custodial parent to pay reasonable court costs and attorney's fees incurred by the noncustodial parent to enforce visitation rights when the cus…

[2] The statutory authority to award attorney's fees for enforcement of visitation rights is triggered by the wrongful conduct of the custodial parent and does not require co…

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Key Quotes

“the Former Wife did 'not get the message' that she should 'foster a healthy relationship between the daughter and the father,' the court found that Former Wife did whatever she could to 'stifle' and 'complicate' the father-daughter relationship”

Establishes the trial court's findings of the former wife's contemptuous conduct in interfering with visitation

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Facts & Procedural History

The former wife repeatedly and intentionally interfered with the former husband's visitation with their daughter by creating circumstances and excuses…

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Opinion of the Court
GROSS, J.

GROSS, J.

We grant the motion for rehearing, withdraw our previous opinion, and substitute the following.

The circuit court found that the former wife was in contempt for repeatedly, intentionally, and maliciously interfering with the Former Husband’s visitation with his daughter. Observing that the Former Wife did “not get the message” that she should “foster a healthy relationship between the daughter and the father,” the court found that Former Wife did whatever she could to “stifle” and “complicate” the father-daughter relationship, and turned what “should be a sprint into a hurdle race by making” the Former Husband “jump over hoops and sign papers.” The court determined that “the Former Husband was denied visitation with his daughter, based on conduct of the Former Wife,” who “went out of her way to interfere and deny timesharing” between the Former Husband and his daughter. The court ordered the Former Wife to pay $11,307.50 in attorney’s fees and $960.35 toward the Former Husband’s costs.

The trial court’s findings are amply supported by the record. There is a great disparity between the incomes of the parties. Nonetheless, in this post-dissolution contempt proceeding, the award of attorney’s fees and costs is proper for two reasons: under section 61.13(4)(e)l Florida Statutes (2004), and as part of the inherent authority of the court under the inequitable conduct doctrine. See T/F Sys., Inc. v. Malt, 814 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Bitterman v. Bitterman, 714 So. 2d 356, 365 (Fla.1998); Baker v. Green, 732 So. 2d 6, 7 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).

Section 61.13(4)(c)l provides that “[w]hen a custodial parent refuses to honor a noncustodial parent’s ... visitation rights without proper cause,” the trial court “[m]ay order the custodial parent to pay reasonable court costs and attorney’s fees incurred by the noncustodial parent ... to enforce their visitation rights ...” This statutory power to award attorney’s fees is outside of section 61.16(1), Florida Statutes (2004), which requires a consideration of “the financial resources of both parties” as part of the decision to award fees and costs. The power to award fees is triggered by the wrongful conduct of the custodial parent, without consideration of the noncustodial parent’s financial resources. The Former Wife’s conduct in this case fell squarely within section 61.13(4)(c)l, so that the award of attorney’s fees was proper. The Former Wife’s misconduct also justified an award of fees under the inequitable conduct doctrine. The trial judge’s on-the-record findings satisfied the requirement that there be “an express finding of bad faith conduct” that is “supported by detailed factual findings describing the specific acts of bad faith conduct that resulted in the unnecessary incurrence of attorneys’ fees.” Moakley v. Smallwood, 826 So. 2d 221, 227 (Fla.2002). As the trial court observed, “the evidence repeatedly demonstrated that the Former Husband was denied visitation with his daughter, based on conduct of the Former Wife, in creating circumstances and excuses to prevent visitation between [the daughter] and her father.”

Affirmed.

GUNTHER and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Ford v. Ford, 153 So. 3d 315 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)
    …r reasonable sanction as a result of noncompliance. Together these provisions authorize the trial court to order the former wife to pay both the attorney’s fees and expert’s fees incurred in enforcing the parenting plan. Robinson-Wilson v. Wilson, 932 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006), explains why the “need and ability to pay” test of section 61.16(1) does not apply here: This statutory power [under section 61.13(4) ] to award attorney’s fees is out [*320] side of section 61.16(1), Florida Statutes (2004), w…
  • Ginnell v. Pacetti, 31 So. 3d 217 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
    …arent-child relationship” with the child’s father. Ginnell’s wrongful conduct also justified the trial court’s decision to have her pay summer transportation costs and a doctor’s fees. See § 61.13(4)(c), Fla. Stat. (2008); Robinson-Wilson v. Wilson, 932 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (indicating that a court’s power to sanction under subsection 61.13(4)(c) “is triggered by the wrongful conduct of the custodial parent”). Affirmed. GROSS, C.J., TAYLOR and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . Because the trial judge has n…
  • Lett v. Lett, 408 So. 3d 167 (Fla. 5th DCA 2025)

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