October 14, 2025
ShareKelley Kronenberg Secures Appellate Reversal in $77K Family Law Fee Award
Kelley Kronenberg Partner/Business Unit Leader Aislynn Thomas-McDonald, Partner Brittany Miller, Attorney Daiselys Arritola, and Paralegal Melissa Van Heusen secured a significant appellate victory for their client in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal, successfully reversing a trial court order awarding the opposing party over $77,000.00 in temporary attorney’s fees, costs, and expert fees in a Miami-Dade County paternity and timesharing dispute.
The case involved a prolonged custody dispute where both parties had incurred over $200,000.00 in combined attorney’s fees and costs. The trial court conducted a two-day evidentiary hearing on competing motions for temporary fees and costs, after which the trial judge awarded the mother $69,034.00 in attorney’s fees, $3,344.66 in costs, and $5,000.00 in expert fees, ordering the father to pay $30,000.00 immediately and $5,000.00 per month thereafter.
The trial court based its ability-to-pay finding on a conclusion that the father could obtain funds “on demand” from family and friends, characterizing various loans as gifts that he had “the ability to rely upon and expect at regular intervals.” The written order stated the father had “the ability and expectation to get income from his employment and other sources including, without limitation, his family and friends.”
Aislynn and her team identified multiple legal deficiencies in the trial court’s order and crafted a comprehensive appellate brief challenging both the imputation of income and the lack of findings regarding fee reasonableness.
The Third District Court of Appeal agreed with the defense arguments and reversed the fee award. The appellate panel held that both the trial court’s oral pronouncements and written order were “devoid of factual findings” supporting the determination of need and ability to pay, preventing meaningful appellate review.
Most significantly, the Court ruled that the trial court’s conclusion about “on demand” funds from family and friends was legally insufficient. The opinion reinforced established precedent that courts may only consider “the financial resources of the parties and not the financial assistance of family or friends,” with a narrow exception for gifts that are “continuing and ongoing, not sporadic” with evidence they will continue in the future.
The appellate panel also agreed with the team’s argument that the trial court failed to make required findings regarding the reasonableness of the requested fees, including findings on the number of hours reasonably expended, applicable hourly rates, and specific challenges such as block billing and clerical charges.
The Court reversed and remanded with instructions for the trial court to make specific factual findings based solely on the testimony and evidence from the two-day hearing, allowing the trial court to reconsider its conclusions based on proper findings of fact.
This appellate victory demonstrates the critical importance of preserving procedural objections and challenging legally insufficient findings in family law fee litigation, particularly regarding imputation of income from third-party sources.
To read the full opinion: Gonzalez v. Rodriguez, 50 Fla. L. Weekly D1809 (Fla. 3d DCA August 13, 2025)
Learn more about Kelley Kronenberg’s Family Law Division: https://www.kelleykronenberg.com/our-practices/family-law/