In Duke vs. Duke, The trial court erred on the face of the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage (no trial transcript was provided, so only errors appearing on the face of the order could be remedied): 1) Alimony: In awarding alimony, the court failed to impute income to the wife based upon income that […]
Category: Case Law Category
Mitchell vs. Mitchell
In Mitchell vs. Mitchell, a domestic violence injunction was reversed because it was not supported by competent substantial evidence. Phone calls and text messages have been found by Florida courts to constitute general harassment and therefore insufficient to ground an injunction. Similarly, verbal violence, mental instability, a bad temper, depressive and suicidal statements, angry messages, […]
Ketcher v. Ketcher
In Ketcher vs. Ketcher, the amount of alimony awarded was remanded because the Final Judgment lacks findings supporting the award. Also, the order that the Husband secure life insurance coverage of $100,000 was remanded because it exceeds the debt that he was ordered to pay, and there are no findings discussing the discrepancy. ketcher-v-ketcher
Sherlock vs. Sherlock
In Sherlock vs. Sherlock, the appellate court upheld the trial court’s imputation of income and subsequent denial of alimony. The imputation was based upon a reasonable rate of return from the assets available to the Husband, including his present home. The appellate court acknowledged that the trial court should not have imputed income to the […]
Stusch vs. Jiruska
In Stusch vs. Jiruska, the appellate court reversed and remanded an order finding the former husband in Contempt because the trial court erred in not granting a continuance and conducting a hearing without the former husband present. The trial court should have granted a continuance based upon the pro se letter from the former husband […]
What is “income” for purposes of child support calculations?
And how does Florida factor in disability benefits that go directly to the opposing party? First, F.S. 61.046(8) states, “‘Income’ means any form of payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commissions and bonuses, compensation as an independent contractor, worker’s compensation, disability benefits, annuity and retirement benefits, pensions, […]
Castillo vs. Castillo
In Castillo vs. Castillo, the trial court improperly applied the unclean hands doctrine to summarily deny a petition for modification. Where a spouse has the ability to pay an arrearage and does not do so, he is not in court with clean hands and in such case his petition should not be considered on the […]
Perez vs. Fay
You may recall the decision from last year that reversed an order by Judge Elisabeth Adams which, among other things, restricted the mother from speaking Spanish to the child. In that appellate case the mother had prevailed on 7 of the 8 issues that she appealed. When she sought to tax appellate costs on remand, […]
Addie vs. Coale
Addie vs. Coale has a history in the 4th district. When it was first appealed, it was remanded for reconsideration of the alimony and child support aspects of the final judgment. On remand, the successor trial judge entered an alimony and child support award, but it was deficient in that findings were not made on […]
McGlynn vs. Tallman-McGlynn
In McGlynn vs. Tallman-McGlynn, we are reminded that if you include bonus income in your financial affidavit but want to argue that it should not be included in net income for alimony or child support, you should be prepared to present evidence supporting the claim that the bonus income is non-recurring. Also, the Former Husband […]