JUDITH E. SCOTT, APPELLANT,
v.
JAMES ALAN SCOTT, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1974-12-06
No. 74-54
OWEN, C. J., and CROSS, J.,- concur.
303 So. 2d 683 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1974) 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

The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's denial of attorney's fees to a wife who successfully defended against her husband's petition to modify child custody. The court held that a property settlement agreement's general provision limiting mutual financial obligations did not constitute an express waiver of the wife's statutory right to attorney's fees in modification proceedings.


Holding

The court held that the property settlement agreement did not contain an express waiver of attorney's fees. A waiver of attorney's fees, like the award itself, requires express language. The general language in paragraph 13 did not directly address or show intent to waive the statutory right to attorney's fees in modification proceedings.


Headnotes

[1] A waiver of attorney's fees must be express and cannot be inferred from general provisions in a property settlement agreement.

[2] Statutory authority exists for the award of attorney's fees in dissolution proceedings, including modification proceedings.

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Key Quotes

“The law is well established that attorney's fees cannot be awarded unless authorized by statute or agreement of the parties.”

Establishes the foundational principle that attorney's fees require express authorization

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Facts & Procedural History

Judith Scott and James Scott entered into a property settlement agreement incorporated into their final judgment of dissolution. The agreement contain…

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Opinion of the Court
MAGER, Judge.

MAGER, Judge.

The sole point involved on this appeal is the correctness of the trial court’s determination that the property settlement agreement between the appellant wife and appellee husband precluded the award of attorney’s fees to the wife in successfully defending her husband’s petition to modify child custody.

Paragraph 13 of the Property Settlement Agreement, incorporated in the Final Judgment of Dissolution, provided as follows:

“13. That the Wife specifically agrees to incur no obligations or other indebtedness or expenses that may be chargeable to the Husband, and the Husband specifically agrees not to incur any obligations or other indebtedness or expenses that may be chargeable to the Wife.”

The husband filed a petition for modification of the final judgment as pertains to the custody of a minor child, which the wife defended. In denying the husband’s petition the trial court held that attorney’s fees could not be awarded because of the above quoted provisions of paragraph 13, the court concluded, in part, that

“This paragraph makes no exception for attorney’s fees or court costs. The wife has waived statutory rights which were available to her at the time she entered into said agreement.”

The law is well established that attorney’s fees cannot be awarded unless authorized by statute or agreement of the parties. Lang v. Lang, Fla.App.1971, 252 So. 2d 809. Specific statutory authority exists for the award of attorney’s fees in dissolution proceedings “including enforcement and modification proceedings.” See sec. 61.16, F.S. Just as the award of attorney’s fees is dependent upon express authority to that effect (statute or contract) likewise the waiver of attorney fees should also be dependent upon express language which we find lacking in instant case.1 In Posner v. Posner, Fla.App. 1970, 237 So. 2d 186, dealing with the question of the wife’s waiver of attorney fees by language contained in an antenuptial agreement, the court observed, in part:

“ . . . A reading of the pertinent portion of the antenuptial agreement (which was quoted in this court’s opinion [206 So. 2d 416] reveals that the agreement did not contain an express waiver of attorney fees, and did not deal directly with the matter of attorney fees. In our opinion the wording of the agreement is not such as to show intent of the wife to waive her right to receive attorney fees for services of her attorneys in the divorce suit. . . . ” (at 188).

Accordingly, that portion of the trial court’s order on petition for modification determining that attorney’s fees may not be awarded because of paragraph 13 of the property settlement agreement is vacated and set aside and the cause remanded to the trial court for such further proceedings as may be deemed appropriate. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as precluding the trial court from considering the financial ability of the parties in determining the matter of attorney’s fees. See 10A Fla.Jur., Dissolution of Marriage, sec. 43.

Reversed.

OWEN, C. J., and CROSS, J.,- concur. . It is interesting to observe that by his very action of instituting a petition for modification the husband seemingly violated the provisions of paragraph 13 where he “specifically agrees not to incur any obligations or other indebtedness or expenses that may be chargeable to the Wife”. Of necessity, the wife employed an attorney to defend against the husband’s petition for modification which expense was chargeable to her.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Knealing v. Puleo, 675 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 1996)
    …vil Procedure 1.442. A statute providing authority to award fees must do so expressly. See Dorner v. Red Top Cab & Baggage Co., 160 Fla. 882, 37 So. 2d 160 (1948); Florida Life Ins. Co. v. Fickes, 613 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); Scott v. Scott, 303 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974). Contrary to the district court’s finding in Puleo, section 44.102(6) does not expressly authorize an award of fees simply by referencing section 768.79. Nor does it provide any other independent basis for awarding fees. Rather…
  • Cladis v. Cladis, 512 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
    …pinion that the contract terms under which the wife waived any claim to the [*275] husband’s property are valid and that, not having waived other of her claims such as support and alimony, she is now free to maintain such claims. See Scott v. Scott, 303 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974); Topper v. Stewart, 449 So. 2d 373 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Posner v. Posner, 237 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970). In our opinion the remaining appellate points do not merit discussion. There is one final caution that we mention for c…
  • Adler v. Etta Mae Adler and Joan Berk, 365 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
    …he attorney’s fees were not within any statutory entitlement and the parties did not agree to this payment. Accordingly, the attorney’s fees were improperly awarded. See, e. g., Fisher v. Fisher, 318 So. 2d 434 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975; and Scott v. Scott, 303 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974). Affirmed in part; reversed in part.…

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