No. CS/CS/HB 413
Attorney Fees, Suit Money, and Costs; Provides that award of attorney fees, suit money, & costs may be awarded retroactively & prospectively; authorizes inclusion of fees, money, & costs in award of attorney fees, suit money, & costs; authorizes court to consider whether party rejected good faith offer of settlement when awarding fees, money, & costs; authorizes court to award, deny, or reduce fees, money, & costs as sanction; requires court to make certain written findings; authorizes fees, money, & costs be paid to attorney; provides award of attorney fees & costs to nonoffending party under certain circumstances; provides relief is cumulative; authorizes court to order attorney fees, suit money, & costs in certain appellate proceedings; prohibits court from awarding fees, money, & costs to noncompliant party; provides that trial court has continuing jurisdiction to award temporary appellate fees, money, & costs; specifies primary factor for court to consider in making awards of appellate fees & costs; authorizes court to take certain actions in action involving criminal contempt.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDFamily court judges gain explicit power to award attorney fees retroactively and prospectively, to cover the cost of pursuing a fee award itself, and to sanction a party for vexatious or bad-faith litigation if they write specific findings.
In divorce and support enforcement cases, a party found in contempt of a court order without justification must pay the other side's reasonable court costs and attorney fees, and courts may weigh a rejected good-faith settlement offer when setting any fee award.
In paternity cases, a party who wins a civil contempt motion is presumed entitled to recover fees from the person held in contempt, regardless of that person's ability to pay.
The new rules apply only to actions, including those started by a supplemental petition, that are filed on or after the effective date, so pending cases keep the old standard.
AICourts may award attorney fees, suit money, and costs retroactively or prospectively as equity requires, in both divorce/support and paternity cases. The fees a party spends pursuing the fee award itself can now be added to the award, on top of the underlying litigation costs.
AIExcept in Title IV-D cases, once a court finds a party willfully violated a family court order without proper cause, section 61.16 requires it to make written findings and order that party to pay the other side's reasonable court costs and attorney fees from the contempt proceeding.
AIA court may award fees as a sanction against a party who, directly or through their attorney, engages in vexatious or bad-faith litigation, or may deny or reduce that party's own fee award. Any such order must include written findings identifying the specific conduct.
AIIn paternity cases, a party who prevails on a civil contempt motion is presumed entitled to recover attorney fees and costs from the person held in contempt, without regard to either party's financial need or the contemnor's ability to pay, a different standard than the rest of the statute uses.
AIWhen deciding whether to award fees and how much, a court may now consider whether a party rejected a good-faith settlement offer, a factor the statute did not previously mention.
AIAll of these changes to both statutes apply only to actions, including ones started by a supplemental petition, filed on or after the day the act becomes law, leaving pending cases governed by the prior rules.