Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Re: Appealing a divorce judgement

Unfortunately, you do not. You have to appeal within 30 days of the Final Judgment.

For future reference, and for others that might be reading this post - your situation was one of property distribution. In Florida, your husband would not have been able to force you to comply with the final judgment through the contempt power of the court. His only recourse would have been to sue you for breach of contract or other legitimate cause of action and obtain a judgment against you.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have paid him - you were required to under the court order, but by seeking the advice of counsel first, you could have filed a Supplemental Petition for Modification and informed the court that things had changed - the housing market has dropped like a rock since 2005. At the very least, you may have been able to renegotiate the terms of your payment to him.

Re: Appealing a divorce judgement

If the Final Judgment was entered in Dec 2005 you have missed an opportunity to appeal. The valuation of property can fluctuate over time. You would be likely to recover money from him because the house went down any value as he would have been if your home's value increased since Dec 2005.