Summary
Shirley Bush appealed a final judgment dissolving her marriage to O. David Bush, challenging the amount of alimony and the equitable distribution of marital assets. The court affirmed the alimony award but reversed the equitable distribution scheme because the trial court improperly included a depleted marital account and remanded for reconsideration.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion by awarding Shirley Bush $35,000 in lump-sum alimony and nominal permanent alimony.
- Whether the trial court erred by including the depleted Rabat account in the equitable-distribution scheme and awarding it to Shirley Bush.
Holdings
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding Shirley Bush $35,000 in lump-sum alimony and nominal permanent alimony.
- The trial court erred by including the depleted Rabat account in the equitable-distribution scheme and awarding it to Shirley Bush without finding that she had committed misconduct in depleting the account during the dissolution proceedings.
Key quotations
“It was error for the trial court to include these depleted marital assets in the equitable distribution scheme because the Husband used this sum during the pendency of the dissolution proceedings, and no misconduct was asserted.” (1103)
Factual background
The parties were in their second marriage to each other, which was of substantial duration, and were approaching retirement age when they separated. They had accumulated moderate assets and liabilities, including several homes and a family debris and disaster cleanup business. One marital asset, the approximately $143,000 Rabat account, was depleted by Shirley Bush for her needs during the dissolution proceedings, and the trial court nevertheless awarded the account to her in the final judgment without finding misconduct.
Procedural history
The trial court entered a final judgment of dissolution awarding Shirley Bush $35,000 in lump-sum alimony and nominal permanent alimony and distributing the marital assets. The court treated a depleted account valued at approximately $143,000 as a marital asset awarded to Shirley Bush. The Second District affirmed the alimony award, reversed the equitable-distribution portion of the judgment, and remanded for reconsideration.
Remand instructions
The trial court shall reconsider the equitable distribution in light of the depletion of the Rabat account.