JOSEFINA DE LA PORTILLA, APPELLANT,
v.
RAFAEL DE LA PORTILLA, AND MIRIAM MULKAY, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1973-11-27
Nos. 73-1019, 73-1092
Before PEARSON, HENDRY and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
287 So. 2d 345 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1973) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 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

In this Florida dissolution of marriage case, the wife appealed the trial court's striking of her affirmative defense of unclean hands and her counterclaim for invasion of privacy. The court affirmed the trial court's order, holding that the clean hands doctrine has been eliminated in marriage dissolution actions except for fraud and deceit, and that the wife's counterclaim was actually a barred claim for alienation of affections.


Holding

The court held that the clean hands doctrine has been eliminated in marriage dissolution actions except for cases involving fraud and deceit, making the unclean hands defense unavailable. Additionally, the court held that the wife's counterclaim for invasion of privacy was actually a barred claim for alienation of affections under Florida law, and therefore could not proceed.


Headnotes

[1] The "clean hands" doctrine is not available in marriage dissolution actions, except in cases of fraud and deceit.

[2] A counterclaim for invasion of privacy by a spouse against the other spouse is prohibited when it is effectively an action for alienation of affections.

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

Key Quotes

“by virtue of the new legislative action that the clean hands principle has been eliminated in marriage dissolution except for fraud and deceit”

Establishes that the unclean hands defense is not available in dissolution actions except for fraud and deceit

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Rafael De La Portilla filed a petition for dissolution of marriage, alleging the marriage was irretrievably broken. Josefina De La Portilla, his wife …

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant-appellant takes this interlocutory appeal to review the chancellor’s order striking appellant’s first affirmative defense and dismissing appellant’s counterclaim.

Plaintiff-appellee, Rafael De La Portilla, filed a petition for dissolution of marriage alleging that the marriage between him and appellant, his wife is irretrievably broken. In response thereto, appellant, Josefina De La Portilla, filed an answer in which she alleged that she and her husband, the appellee, were married in Cuba on August 27, 1940 and lived and cohabited together for some 33 years during which time she remained faithful to her husband and her marriage vows “to love, honor and cherish him until death do them part." That when her husband received his license to practice medicine in Miami, he rose rapidly in his profession, became a man of influence, and was devoted to his wife and family until he became acquainted with “a designing woman of comely appearance”, who became his paramour and flattered, cajoled and wheedled appellee out of large sums of money and property, a separate residence and a late model automobile. By reason of the above, defendant-appellee raises the defense that plaintiff-husband has not come into equity with clean hands and that his allegation that the marriage is irretrievably broken is but a sham to attempt to shamefully and unconscionably to avoid his marital obligations.

Appellant also filed a counterclaim against her husband and his paramour in which she alleged that the counter-defendants knowingly wrongfully, maliciously and unlawfully conspired to invade the privacy of appellant by wrecking and destroying her marriage. That as a proximate cause thereof, appellant has been greatly and permanently damaged in her health.

The husband-appellee moved to strike both the appellant’s counterclaim and affirmative defense of “unclean hands”. A hearing was held thereon and thereafter the chancellor granted the husband’s motions. This interlocutory appeal follows.

On appeal, appellant-wife first contends that the chancellor erred in finding that the invoking of the affirmative defense of the principle that he who comes into equity must come with clean hands is not available in a dissolution action.

This issue has been decided in Ryan v. Ryan, Fla.1973, 277 So. 2d 266, wherein the Florida Supreme Court has found “that by virtue of the new legislative action that the clean hands principle has been eliminated in marriage dissolution except for fraud and deceit. . [Emphasis supplied]. Thus, this argument of appellant must fail.

Appellant secondly contends that the chancellor erred in striking her counterclaim for “invasion of privacy”.

Although appellant has cited many cases to support her contention, we could find no case wherein a wife has brought an action for invasion of privacy against a husband. More important, we are in agreement with the appellee that in reality appellant’s counterclaim is one for alienation of affections and as such is prohibited by F.S. § 771.01 F.S.A. et seq., which abol ishes actions for alienation of affections and is a bar to civil actions for conspiracy to commit such acts. Liappas v. Augoustis, Fla.1950, 47 So. 2d 582. Thus, we hold that the chancellor was eminently correct in granting appellee’s motion to strike the counterclaim.

Accordingly, the order of the court below is hereby affirmed.

Affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • DE LA Portilla v. DE LA Portilla, 304 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 1974)
    …, concurs in the judgment only. . Article V, Section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution; Foley v. Weaver Drugs, Inc., 177 So. 2d 221 at 225 (Fla.1965). . 89 Fla. 446, 105 So. 126 (1925). . 90 Fla. 864, 107 So. 185 (1925). . 295 So. 2d 629 (Fla.1974). . 287 So. 2d 345 (Fla.App.1974). . id. . 295 So. 2d 304 (Fla.1974). . 289 So. 2d 792 (Fla.App.1974).…
  • DE LA Portilla v. DE LA Portilla, 295 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 1974)
    …Certiorari denied. 287 So. 2d 345. ROBERTS, ERVIN, DEKLE and OVERTON, JJ., concur. ADKINS, C. J., dissents.…
  • McDOUGALD v. Jenson, 786 F.2d 1465 (11th Cir. 1986)
    …ract to marry.” Laws 1945, c. 23138, § 1, codified at Fla.Stat.Ann. § 771.01 (West 1964). This statute has been construed broadly by the Florida courts. See, e.g., Harrington v. Pages, 440 So. 2d 521 (Fla.App.1983); De la Portilla v. De la Portilla, 287 So. 2d 345 (Fla.App.1973), cert. denied, 295 So. 2d 304 (Fla.1974). One court recently stated that the statute expresses the public policy of the state “that domestic quarrels — who did what to whom before and during a marriage — should not be the subject of d…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw