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Sheldon v. Sheldon
Citations: 757 So. 2d 1263; 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 6207; 2000 WL 668562Docket: No. 3D99-585
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; May 24, 2000; Florida; State Appellate Court
Pamela Sheldon, the former wife, appealed an order that found her in contempt of court and imposed a $5,000 fine following her refusal to participate in joint therapy with her ex-husband and their children. The divorce occurred in 1996, and a post-dissolution judgment in 1998 mandated family therapy based on recommendations from psychotherapist Dr. Phillip Boswell. The order indicated that joint therapy sessions should occur only when both the mother’s and the father/children’s therapists agreed it was appropriate. The ex-husband initiated contempt proceedings after Dr. Wunderman, the counselor, insisted on the former wife's participation in therapy sessions, which she declined due to feeling threatened by his confrontational approach. The trial court ruled that Dr. Wunderman had the authority to dictate the therapy process, leading to the contempt ruling against her. The appellate court reversed the contempt order, stating that the former wife's actions did not constitute a willful violation of any court order. The original judgment did not explicitly require her to participate in joint therapy without agreement from both therapists. Consequently, the appellate court determined that the former wife could not be held in contempt for actions that did not breach any existing court order. The case was remanded for further proceedings.