TIMOTHY BRADHAM, HUSBAND, APPELLANT,
v.
SUSAN ELAINE BRADHAM, WIFE, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2013-09-18
No. 1D12-4380
VAN NORTWICK, THOMAS, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
120 So. 3d 1274 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2013) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Timothy Bradham appealed a trial court order modifying his alimony obligation and requiring him to pay $3,000 toward his former wife's attorney's fees and costs. The appellate court affirmed the alimony modification but reversed and remanded the attorney's fees award because the trial court failed to make the necessary findings required by Florida law.


Holding

The court affirmed the alimony modification as not constituting an abuse of discretion, but reversed the attorney's fees award because the trial court failed to make the required findings under Florida law regarding the reasonableness of the fees and costs.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's modification of alimony obligations is reviewed for an abuse of discretion.

[2] An award of attorney's fees and costs will be reversed if the trial court fails to make the requisite findings to support the award.

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Key Quotes

“a court may from time to time, after considering the financial resources of both parties, order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney's fees, suit money, and the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this chapter, including enforcement and modification proceedings and appeals”

Establishes the statutory authority and framework for awarding attorney's fees in family law proceedings under Florida Statute 61.16(1)

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Facts & Procedural History

Timothy and Susan Bradham were former spouses in a family law proceeding. The trial court modified Timothy's alimony obligation and ordered him to con…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Timothy Bradham, the former husband, appeals the trial court’s order modifying his alimony obligation and requiring him to pay attorney’s fees and costs of appellee, Susan E. Bradham, the former wife. We find no abuse of discretion in the modification of alimony. Galligar v. Galligar, 77 So.3d 808, 811 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011). Because the trial court made no findings to support the fee and cost award, we reverse the order granting fees and costs and remand for further proceedings.

We apply the abuse of discretion standard to review a lower court’s award of attorney’s fees. Shelly L. Hall, M.D., P.A. v. White, 97 So.3d 907, 909 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). Florida law provides:

[ A] court may from time to time, after considering the financial resources of both parties, order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney’s fees, suit money, and the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this chapter, including *1276enforcement and modification proceedings and appeals ... An application for attorney’s fees, suit money, or costs, whether temporary or otherwise, shall not require corroborating expert testimony in order to support an award under this chapter.

§ 61.16(1), Fla. Stat. (2012). Furthermore, in Norman v. Norman, 939 So.2d 240, 241-42 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), this court held that a trial court reversibly errs when it awards attorney’s fees without making the requisite findings as to the proper amount, as required by Fla. Patient’s Comp. Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla.1985). Even where the record supports awarding fees and costs, failure to include the necessary findings constitutes reversible error. Id. at 242; see also Ard v. Ard, 765 So.2d 106, 107 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (remand of attorney’s fee award required where the trial court made no findings as to the attorney’s hours expended, hourly rate, or reasonableness of the fee).

Here, the trial court’s order found that the former wife had a need for contribution to her attorney’s fees and costs and the former husband had an ability to pay. This finding is supported by the parties’ respective financial affidavits, which show the former husband with a monthly surplus, while the former wife carries a monthly deficit, in addition to being the primary residential parent for the two minor children. The former wife submitted an affidavit from her attorney’s law firm attesting to the fees and costs incurred by appellee in the case, as well as detailed records of the hourly rate and hours expended for her case. However, there is no indication that the court considered the Rowe factors in reaching its decision to award fees and costs. Thus, the order requiring the former husband to contribute $3,000 towards the former wife’s attorney’s fees and costs must be reversed and remanded for the court to properly evaluate the issue.

Accordingly, we REVERSE the portion of the trial court’s order on fees and costs and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion; the remainder of the order we AFFIRM.

VAN NORTWICK, THOMAS, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.


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