Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
Statute of limitations on enforcing marital settlement agreement
I would like to know that if after 12 years of divorce and settlement agreement was not inforced by mother on the insurance section where father is supposed to have insurance on minor. Mother has had insurance the entire time on the daughter. But because the child is 18 now and child support payments stopped she is being spiteful and threatening to have father taken to court to repay for 13 years of insurance, when during this entire time 13 years or so she never once took it to clerk of court to enforce the law. she is just hurting for money and trying to have the father support her. How long did she have to enforce this part of the marital settlement agreement. Can she take father to court now and enforce the papers after 13 years.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Statute of limitations on enforcing marital settlement agreement
There is a staute of limitation for this (actually, it's called "laches," and it's pronounced like "latches"). Most judges would probably say that laches attached when the child turned 18. She should have enforced the right to insurance when the right was still applicable. In her best case scenario, I think a judge would give her two years worth of back cost of the insurance.
So, let's say she filed her motion on the "child's" 19th birthday. Her best case would be to go back two years from the filing date, so she'd get one year's worth of insurance payments. That's her best case.
More likely, though, she'd get zilch.
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