Fourth District Reverses Timesharing Schedule Failing to Address Parental Responsibility

In today’s opinion in Munroe v. Olibrice, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed an order establishing a time-sharing schedule for the parties’ minor children on the grounds that the time-sharing schedule failed to address parental responsibility and did not create a parenting plan.  By not establishing a parenting plan establishing how the parents make decisions in addition to adopting a time-sharing schedule, error was committed.

Second District Permits Corporate Discovery Notwithstanding Legal Ownership

The Second District Court posted its ruling in Bushong v. Peel today, and granted a petition for writ of certiorari permitting the Husband to obtain documents related to corporations that he contends form part of the marital estate.  The lower tribunal granted three motions for protective orders preventing the release of the documents as a result of a finding that the Husband had not established any ownership interest.  The Second District, however, held that the Husband showed sufficient interest in the companies to warrant quashing the protective orders, and in a footnote stated that “It may be that Mr. Bushong had failed to establish that he had any ownership interest in the Companies. But that interest would be a "legal" ownership interest only. Mr. Bushong has shown that he had a substantial equitable interest in them as marital assets because he started the Companies, operated them in conjunction with Ms. Peel until his summary dismissal, and was a major factor in their success. We do not detail here the many individual documents that are subject to the protective orders because Mr. Bushong has shown entitlement to all of them. His interest is substantial enough and his discovery requests were not too overbroad or burdensome.”  Bushong v. Peel, 2D11-4795 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012).

Second District Reverses Equitable Distribution

In Kumar v. Kumar, the Second District released an opinion today which reversed the equitable distribution schedule for several errors.  First, the lower tribunal had wrongly considered the Former Wife’s jewelry to be non-marital.  Second, the lower court erroneously valued a certificate of deposit awarded to the Husband as of the date of filing, a value $40,000.00 lower than the value as of the date of trial.  And, third, the court failed to distribute the contents of the former marital home.  While the Former Wife agreed to the court’s choice, instead, to order mediation of those items, the Former Husband did not, and, as the Second District quoted, the “parties are entitled to a final distribution…at time of dissolution.”  Kumar v. Kumar,  2D10-5546 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012), citing  Collinsworth v. Collinsworth, 624 So.2d 287, 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). 

Fifth District Reverses Rosen Fees

The Fifth District Court reversed a post-judgment fee award Friday in Colado v. Caryi, a case in which the lower court had awarded the Former Husband his fees from the Former Wife based on vexatious litigation on her part.  The Fifth District Court, after an examination of Rosen v. Rosen, 696 So.2d 697 (Fla. 1997) and its progeny, found that there was no evidence of vexatious behavior on the Former Wife’s part, and reversed the award.

Second District Reverses Denial of Modification

The Second District Court of Appeal reversed today in Morrell v. Morrell, a case in which modification of alimony was denied to the payor in part on the basis of his substantial relationship.  The Second District reversed in part on the basis that the payee is the only one whose supportive relationship is relevant for alimony modification purposes.  Because it was unclear what weight this particular issue was given by the lower court, the entire denial of modification was reversed for reconsideration without consideration of the Former Husband’s relationship.

First District Again Reverses Deviation in Administrative Support Action Without Parenting Plan

As it did recently in D.O.R. ex rel Mash v. Ingram, and last year in D.O.R. ex rel Sherman v. Daly, the First District Court of Appeal again reversed today in D.O.R. ex rel Taylor v. Aluscar, yet another case in which a deviation from the guidelines was based on an informal timesharing arrangement and not a formal parenting plan.

First District Reverses on Alimony

The First District Court of Appeal reversed today in Rucker v. Rucker, a case in which the lower court awarded 18 months of bridge-the-gap alimony after a twelve and a half year marriage.  As the evidence appeared to suggest that the lower court had miscalculated the parties’ incomes, and as there were insufficient findings to determine whether alimony was awarded pursuant to the factors, the First District reversed and remanded for recalculation of the incomes and new findings of fact.