State Fire & Cas. Co. v. Hynes

• Decision Date: 21 November 1952
• Citation: 62 So.2d 723
• Court: Florida Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE FIRE & CASUALTY CO. v. HYNES.

Page 723

62 So.2d 723

STATE FIRE & CASUALTY CO. v. HYNES.

Supreme Court of Florida, Division A.

Nov. 21, 1952.

Original Opinion Enlarged and Motion to Dismiss Appeal Denied Jan. 16, 1953.

Franks & Gordon, Miami, for appellant.

Walter Warren, Leesburg, for appellee.

HOBSON, Justice.

This appeal originated in the lower court as a divorce suit between Vera Hynes, who was plaintiff, and her husband, Albert J. Hynes. The Chancellor required Albert J. Hynes to make a ne exeat bond in the sum of $5,000. Appellant, State Fire and Casualty Company, is the surety on that bond. The appeal is only from that portion of the final decree which provided that upon default of the defendant to pay the sum of $5,000 into the registry of the court the appellant as surety upon said bond should deposit said amount of money therein.

The learned Chancellor relied upon our opinion in Pan American Surety Co. v. Walterson, Fla., 44 So.2d 94, 95, as authority for the entry of that portion of the final decree which is under attack. The conditions of the ne exeat bond in that case were 'shall appear from say to day and term to term of said Court and not depart the same without leave, * * * and abide by further orders of this court.' (Italics supplied.) The Chancellor in his final decree awarded the plaintiff alimony in a lump sum and ordered that 'in the event said sum is not paid as directed by this Court, the plaintiff may immediately undertake proceedings to collect the same against the $7500.00 Ne Exeat bond posted by the defendant.' The defendant failed to pay the lump sum of alimony as ordered by the court and upon such default a petition was filed by the plaintiff for a rule to show cause directed to the Pan American Surety Company. Thereafter judgment on the rule to show cause was entered for the plaintiff against the Surety Company in the amount of the bond. In that case we reversed the ruling of the lower court.

We did hold that if there had been a breach of the bond by the defendant, that is to say that if he had fled the jurisdiction of the court and therefore had not been 'available for the applying to him of the methods of enforcement authorized by law', the condition of the bond in that case would have been sufficient to have justified the chancellor in summarily ordering payment of the amount of the bond into the registry of the court in order to 'secure the wife's alimony to her' as is provided in and by Section 65.11, Florida Statutes 1941, F.S.A.

The condition of the bond in the instant suit reads:

'* * * The condition of this obligation is such that if the said Albert J. Hynes shall appear at the next Regular or Special term of the Circuit Court Fifth District, Lake County to be held in and for said County to answer a Writ of Ne Exeat and shall appear from day to day and term to term of said Court and not depart the same without leave then this obligation to be void, else to remain in full force and virtue.'

There is but on condition of the bond in this case. It is nothing more than an appearance bond and it does not even contain any such provision as '* * * and abide by further orders of this court.' Nor is there any such condition in this bond as was contained in the bond in the case of American Surety Company of New York v. Gedney, 123 Fla. 703, 167 So. 355. Moreover, in the instant case, although the Chancellor determined 'that the defendant has not appeared before this Court at any time or in any proceedings in this Court except by counsel', we find no ruling by the Court to the effect that the defendant below breached the condition of the bond by fleeing the jurisdiction or that at the time of the entry of the final decree he was 'not available for the applying to him of the methods of enforcement authorized by law.' See Pan American Surety Co. v. Walterson, supra.

Furthermore, regardless of the fact that Albert J. Hynes may no have been 'available for the applying to him of the methods of enforcement authorized by law', the Court merely awarded a ne exeat bond as is expressly authorized by Section 65.11, supra, and did not, at the time of entering the order requiring a ne exeat bond, direct the inclusion therein of a condition which would secure the wife's alimony to her.

Although it might be said that the defendant below breached the condition of the ne exeat bond by his failure to appear in court in person there is no condition of the bond which placed appellant herein on notice that it would be required to pay the amount of the bond upon failure of the principal (defendant below) to abide by and comply with further orders of the court. In other words, it was not a bond to guarantee support of the minor child or alimony payments. Such condition might have been placed in the bond as was done in the case of Pan American Surety Co. v. Walterson, supra, and in the case of American Surety Co. of New York v. Gedney, supra. The fact remains, however, that the power granted unto the Chancellor by Section 65.11, supra, to make an order to secure the wife's alimony to her was not with reference to the condition of the ne exeat bond exercised in this case.

Consequently, this case is governed by the law as set forth in Wolfe v. Garcia, 72 Fla. 491, 73 So. 593, and in the case of Thomas v. Martin, 100 Fla. 146, 129 So. 602. See also Buonanno v. Caldwell, 160 Fla. 889, 37 So.2d 159, and Lieberman v. Lieberman, Fla., 43 So.2d 460. The case of Wolfe v. Garcia, supra, was decided in 1916. Section 1935, General Statutes 1906, was in effect at that time. We find no material changes in the provisions of said law in the present statute, Section 65.11, supra. An action upon the bond in the instant suit, if any, must be at law.

Our judgment is one of reversal as to that portion of the Chancellor's final decree which summarily directed appellant to pay the amount of the bond ($5,000) into the registry of the court.

Reversed.

SEBRING, C....