JULIA COUPER LEO, APPELLANT,
v.
BRIAN LEO, 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.
Julia Couper Leo appeals a civil contempt order entered against her by a trial court. The appellate court reverses and remands because the trial court failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing before finding her in contempt, depriving her of notice and an opportunity to be heard.
A person facing civil contempt sanctions is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard at an evidentiary hearing. The trial court's order finding Former Wife in civil contempt was improper because no such hearing was conducted, even though relevant evidence may have been presented in prior dissolution proceedings.
[1] A person facing civil contempt sanctions is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard.
[2] A trial court commits reversible error by entering an order of civil contempt without conducting an evidentiary hearing.
Previewing 2 of 3 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 facing civil contempt sanctions is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard.”
Establishes the fundamental procedural right that the trial court violated
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFollowing a final judgment dissolving the marriage between Julia Couper Leo (Former Wife) and Brian Leo (Former Husband), the Former Husband filed a m…
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 Ability To Comply cases and more on FLexlaw
The appellant, Julia Couper Leo, appeals from an order finding her in civil contempt. Because that order was entered without an evidentiary hearing, we reverse and remand.
This appeal stems from a final judgment of dissolution of marriage as between the appellant (“Former Wife”) and the appel-lee, Brian Leo (“Former Husband”). Subsequent to entry of the final judgment, Former Husband filed a motion for civil contempt and enforcement, alleging that Former Wife failed to comply with provisions in the final judgment, as well as an agreed order entered by the trial court.
A hearing was scheduled on Former Husband’s motion for civil contempt. Pri- or to the hearing, Former Husband’s attorney informed Former Wife’s attorney that the hearing had been cancelled because the trial court made its ruling. For-
mer Husband then provided the trial court with two proposed orders, both finding Former Wife in civil contempt, one of which was ultimately adopted by the trial court. The adopted order stated that “it is undisputed that Former Wife has willfully and wantonly violated the Agreed Order”; that “Former Wife has failed to meet her burden of proving that she either lacked or presently lacks the ability to comply with the Court’s Final Judgment and Agreed Order, or that she is not in willful noncompliance with lawful orders of this Court”; that Former Wife’s non-compliance was “willful and deliberate”; and that Former Wife “has the present ability to comply.”
“A person facing civil contempt sanctions is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard.” Whitby v. Infinity Radio, Inc., 961 So.2d 349, 355 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007). Former Wife was not given this opportunity. While our review of the record indicates that relevant evidence may have been presented during the preceding dissolution proceedings, Former Wife was still entitled to present evidence in the context of a civil contempt hearing. See Voigt v. Voigt, 505 So.2d 626, 626 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (reversing order finding wife in contempt for refusing to return husband’s belongings where trial court failed to conduct evidentiary hearing on wife’s present ability to comply).
Reversed and remanded.
POLEN and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Alvaro Martinez, JR., M.D. v. GIA M. Martinez (Fla. 3d DCA 2023)
Authorities Cited
- Whitby v. Infinity Radio, Inc., 961 So. 2d 349 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
- Voigt v. Voigt, 505 So. 2d 626 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)