397 So. 2d 934 | Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 1981
Oswald Morales appeals an order compelling him to pay under threat of contempt
While Paragraph 10 of the Property Settlement Agreement may be, as the trial court found, clear and unambiguous, what is clear and unambiguous is only that the husband is to pay Barkas $2,000 as attorney’s fees. What is uncertain is whether Barkas was to reimburse Mrs. Morales, that is, whether the provision was intended as a benefit to Mrs. Morales, not as an additional payment to Barkas. If the agreement contained language to the effect that the $2,000 fee and costs were to be in addition to the $2,500 already paid to Barkas by Mrs. Morales, then we could conclude that it clearly and unambiguously mandated the result reached by the trial court. But Paragraph 10, in the face of the Moraleses’ allegations, does not unmistakably lead to that result. The oral agreement which the Moraleses say existed is not one which is displaced by, or at variance with, the written understanding embodied in Paragraph 10. Indeed, the alleged substance of the oral agreement is simply not dealt with in Paragraph 10, and, if shown, would be consistent with the language of Paragraph 10. Under such circumstances, evidence of the
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. While Mr. Morales raises the issue that the trial court cannot, in any event, hold him in contempt for failure to pay Barkas, we do not reach that issue because (a) our decision makes it unnecessary, and (b) no contempt order was entered.