CARMEN EMILIA CLAWSON, APPELLANT,
v.
JOHN R. CLAWSON, 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.
The court held that a husband cannot be relieved of alimony obligations due to the wife's actions that interfere with visitation rights, and a judgment for arrearages should be awarded.
Following a divorce decree requiring alimony and child support payments, the wife petitioned for contempt and a money judgment for unpaid sums. The ch…
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 Divorce Action cases and more on FLexlaw
This is an interlocutory appeal from a post decretal order in a divorce action. The appellant wife was awarded the custody of a minor child with rights of visitation in the appellee husband with a requirement that the husband pay the wife $400 per month alimony for a period of three years and $200 per month thereafter, as well as $50 per month support for the minor child. This decree appeared to be based upon an agreement entered into between the parties.
Upon the petition of the appellant wife, a rule to show cause was directed to the appellee to determine why he should not be held in contempt for failure to make such alimony and support payments provided by the final decree. The petition for the rule to show cause also requested, in the alternative, that the court award the wife a money judgment for the sums found to be due her.
In the order appealed, the chancellor found that the wife had taken the child to another country in an attempt to defeat the appellee husband’s right of visitation with the child and thereupon adjudicated that the husband was relieved from any sums due under the decree from May 1, 1958, until January 1, 1960.
We conclude that the portion of the order which failed to award judgment to the appellant wife for the accumulated alimony payments from May 1, 1958, until January *1051, 1960, should be reversed upon the authority of Hardy v. Hardy, Fla.App.1960, 118 So.2d 106. However, in justice to the able chancellor, we recognize that the Hardy decision was probably not available to him at the time of the entry of the order appealed or was not brought to his attention.
Therefore, that portion of the order which failed to adjudicate and award to the appellant wife a judgment for the ar-rearages of alimony is reversed with directions to enter a judgment for the same. The portion of the order denying enforcement and/or a judgment for the arrearages of child support is affirmed.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part with directions.
HORTON, C. J., and PEARSON, J., and LOPEZ, AQUILINO, JR., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
In the Interest of D.F.W. Jr. Dep't OF H.R.S. v. Devel F. Wesley, 497 So. 2d 925 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…ort enforcement proceeding, and to serve as the basis for a judgment denying enforcement of child support arrearages. See Satterfield v. Satterfield, 39 So. 2d 72 (Fla.1949); Phillips v. Adams, 339 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); Clawson v. Clawson, 125 So. 2d 104 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1960), cert. denied, 129 So. 2d 138 (Fla.1961); Craig v. Craig, 157 Fla. 710, 26 So. 2d 881 (1946). The rationale was that judicial withholding of support was an effective means to force the custodial parent to comply with a visitation…
-
Clawson v. Clawson, 129 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1961)…Certiorari denied without opinion. 125 So. 2d 104.…
-
Cash v. Marcian Reginald Cash, 414 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See, Phillips v. Adams, 339 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); Denton v. Denton, 147 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962); Clawson v. Clawson, 125 So. 2d 104 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960), cert. denied, 129 So. 2d 138 (Fla.1961).…
Authorities Cited
- Hardy v. Hardy, 118 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 1st DCA 1960)