Williams v. Williams
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledAugust 14, 2026
Docket2D2025-1777
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
RONALD BRIAN WILLIAMS,
Appellant,
v.
SAMANTHA SMITH WILLIAMS,
Appellee.
No. 2D2025-1777
August 14, 2026
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court for
Pinellas County; Brian Gnage, Judge.
Michael Gonzalez of Gonzalez Law Group, Tampa, for Appellant.
William B. Bennett of William B. Bennett, P.A., St. Petersburg, for
Appellee.
SMITH, Judge.
The Former Husband, Ronald Brian Williams, seeks review of a
nonfinal order awarding the Former Wife, Samantha Smith Williams,
temporary attorneys' fees in the amount of $75,000. We affirm, without
discussion, the portion of the order concluding that the Former Wife is
entitled to temporary fees. However, because the trial court failed to
make findings as to the reasonableness of both the hourly rate charged
and the hours claimed, we reverse the portion of the order awarding
$75,000 in temporary fees and remand to the trial court for a
determination of the reasonable amount of fees to be awarded.1
When considering a request for attorneys' fees in a dissolution
proceeding "[t]he trial court must 'not only determine that one spouse
has a need for suit money and the other has the ability to pay, but also
that the temporary attorney's fees and costs awarded are reasonable.' "
Kasm v. Kasm, 933 So. 2d 48, 50 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (quoting Safford v.
Safford, 656 So. 2d 485, 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)). This court has
"consistently required that an award of temporary attorneys' fees be
accompanied by factual findings regarding reasonableness of the hourly
rates and time expended." Chhouri v. Chhouri, 2 So. 3d 987, 988 (Fla. 2d
DCA 2008) (first citing Ghay v. Ghay, 954 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 2d DCA
2007); and then citing Kasm, 933 So. 2d at 48). Accordingly, we reverse
the portion of the order awarding the $75,000 in temporary attorneys'
fees and remand for the trial court to make the appropriate findings in
determining the reasonable amount of attorneys' fees to be awarded. See
Chhouri, 2 So. 3d at 988; Kasm, 933 So. 2d at 50; Safford, 656 So. 2d at
486.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
NORTHCUTT and GUARD, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
1 To the extent the Former Wife argues the order should be affirmed
as a sanction, the order expressly states that the trial court reserved
ruling on the Former Wife's motion for contempt.
2