Sonya Witt-Bahls v. Dennis Bahls

Summary

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed most aspects of a dissolution-of-marriage judgment but reversed and remanded for the trial court to specify the steps required for the wife to reestablish unsupervised timesharing with her child. The court also held that appreciation of the husband’s premarital Kiewit stock was passive and therefore not a marital asset because the husband did not occupy a significant management role in the company. The opinion was issued on motion for rehearing and substituted for the court’s prior opinion.

Holdings

1. Appreciation of the husband's premarital Kiewit stock was not a marital asset because the wife failed to establish that the husband occupied a significant management role or otherwise exerted the active marital effort necessary to convert passive appreciation into a marital asset.
2. A trial court that restricts a parent's timesharing must specify relatively specific steps or benchmarks the parent must satisfy to reestablish the restricted contact. The trial court's failure to provide such requirements was an abuse of discretion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether appreciation in the husband's premarital Kiewit stock was a marital asset because of his employment and efforts during the marriage.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by restricting the wife's contact with the child without specifying the steps required to reestablish unsupervised timesharing.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded