Quick Links
- General Laws Conversion Table (2023) [PDF]
- Florida Statutes Definitions Index (2023) [PDF]
- Table of Section Changes (2023) [PDF]
- Preface to the Florida Statutes (2023) [PDF]
- Table Tracing Session Laws to Florida Statutes (2023) [PDF]
- Index to Special and Local Laws (1971-2023) [PDF]
- Index to Special and Local Laws (1845-1970) [PDF]
- Statute Search Tips
1998 Florida Statutes
Alimony and child support; additional method for enforcing orders and judgments; costs; expenses.
188.0515 Alimony and child support; additional method for enforcing orders and judgments; costs; expenses.--
(1) An order or judgment for the payment of alimony or support entered by any court of this state may be enforced by another circuit court in this state in the following manner:
(a) The person to whom such alimony or support is payable or for whose benefit it is payable may file a certified copy of the order or judgment with a petition for enforcement or modification in the circuit court for the county in which the person resides or in the county where the person charged with the payment of the alimony or support resides or is found.
(b) If the pleadings seek to modify the amount of the alimony or support, the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide issues raised in the petition. The clerk of the circuit court in which the new order is entered shall transmit a certified copy of the new order or judgment to the court of original jurisdiction, and the new order or judgment shall be recorded and filed in the original action and become a part thereof. If the court determines that the action should be tried by the court entering the original order or judgment, it shall transfer the action to that court for determination.
(2) The court has jurisdiction to award costs and expenses as are equitable, including the cost of certifying and recording the judgment entered in the action in the court of original jurisdiction and reasonable attorney's fees.
(3) The entry of a judgment for arrearages for support, alimony, or fees and costs does not preclude a subsequent contempt proceeding or certification of a Title IV-D case for intercept by the United States Internal Revenue Service for that judgment, including costs, or for subsequent failure of an obligor to pay support, alimony, or fees. In Title IV-D cases, any costs or fees shall only be assessed against the nonprevailing obligor after the court makes a determination of the nonprevailing obligor's ability to pay such costs and fees.
History.--s. 14, ch. 92-138; s. 10, ch. 96-189.
1Note.--Repealed July 1, 1997, by s. 10, ch. 96-189.