Opinion ID: 1836605
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: former defenses eliminated

Text: The new Act includes a provision, § 61.044, entitled Certain Existing Defenses Abolished and provides: The defenses to divorce and legal separation, of condonation, collusion, recrimination, and laches are abolished. The heretofore well-known defenses of condonation and recrimination found their genesis in the equitable clean hands [8] doctrine but even prior to this new legislative enactment, we had to some degree modified strict recrimination as a defense in the case of Stewart v. Stewart, 158 Fla. 326, 29 So.2d 247 (1947). There the Court found both pairs of hands so unclean that it was hardpressed to apply the doctrine against both parties and therefore proceeded to call it a qualifying doctrine and frankly stated that if the doctrine were applied strictly it would in such circumstances result in great inequity in that neither party to the suit had been free from fault. That opinion in Stewart did however reiterate that the application of the doctrine of clean hands still existed as a matter of judicial discretion and public policy.