Summary
The Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the dissolution of marriage but reversed the permanent alimony award and equitable distribution. The court held that alimony must be based on the former husband's net income and that the trial court was required to characterize and distribute a contested Parent PLUS loan as marital or nonmarital. The case was remanded for specific findings and appropriate reconsideration.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the permanent periodic alimony award was properly based on the former husband's net income and supported by findings demonstrating his ability to pay.
- Whether the trial court erred by failing to identify, characterize, value, and distribute the contested Parent PLUS loan as either a marital or nonmarital liability.
Holdings
- The alimony award must be based on the former husband's net income available to him, and the judgment was insufficient because it did not clearly demonstrate that the award was based on net income.
- The trial court erred by failing to identify, characterize, value, and distribute the contested Parent PLUS loan as a marital or nonmarital liability.
Key quotations
“The ability to pay alimony must be based on the party's net income.” (212 So. 3d at 488)
“The final judgment makes no other mention of the former husband's income.” (212 So. 3d at 489)
“The trial court is thus required to identify all marital and nonmarital assets and liabilities before it equitably distributes those that are marital.” (212 So. 3d at 490)
Factual background
The former wife sought and received permanent periodic alimony of $4,750 per month. The trial court relied on the former husband's stated monthly income of $10,385 and approximately $30,000 in annual bonus income, but the appellate court determined that the judgment did not clearly establish the former husband's net income or ability to pay. The former husband also incurred a $12,900 Parent PLUS loan for the parties' daughter's education, but the trial court neither characterized the loan as marital or nonmarital nor distributed it.
Procedural history
The Circuit Court for Hillsborough County entered a final judgment dissolving the parties' marriage, awarding the former wife $4,750 per month in permanent periodic alimony, and equitably distributing the marital estate without characterizing or distributing a contested Parent PLUS loan. The former husband appealed. The District Court of Appeal affirmed the dissolution, reversed the alimony award and equitable distribution, and remanded for additional findings and distribution.
Remand instructions
The trial court must make specific findings regarding the former husband's ability to pay alimony based on his net income and modify the alimony award if necessary. The trial court must also value the contested Parent PLUS loan, identify it as marital or nonmarital, and distribute it accordingly.