Howell v. Howell

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
Date filed: 1997-10-23
Citations: 700 So. 2d 467, 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 11996, 1997 WL 659830
Copy Citations
Click to Find Citing Cases
Lead Opinion
PER CURIAM.

Petitioner seeks certiorari review of an order finding him to be in civil contempt and committing him to jail for his failure to pay past due child support. We conclude that the trial court’s order is facially deficient in that it does not contain a finding that petitioner has the present ability to pay the purge amount. See Bowen v. Bowen, 471 So.2d 1274 (Fla.1985); Coogan v. Coogan, 662 So.2d 1380 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). Moreover, we conclude that the record before this court would not support such a finding, had one been made. Accordingly, the petition for

Page 468
writ of certiorari is granted and the trial court’s order of contempt is quashed.

JOANOS, WOLF and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur.