Gaetani-Slade v. Slade

852 So. 2d 343, 2003 WL 21939026
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 14, 2003
Docket1D02-2958
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 852 So. 2d 343 (Gaetani-Slade v. Slade) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gaetani-Slade v. Slade, 852 So. 2d 343, 2003 WL 21939026 (Fla. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

852 So.2d 343 (2003)

Paula Marie GAETANI-SLADE, Appellant,
v.
Michael Stephen SLADE, Appellee.

No. 1D02-2958.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

August 14, 2003.

*344 Pamela A. Schneider, of Wershow and Schneider, P.A., Gainesville, for Appellant.

No Appearance, for Appellee.

BROWNING, J.

Paula Marie Gaetani-Slade (Appellant) appeals portions of an amended final judgment dissolving her marriage to Michael Stephen Slade (Appellee). Appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to acknowledge and value Appellee's retirement benefits in its decree and abused its discretion in several material respects relating also to Appellee's non-marital real estate, to the denial of attorney's fees and costs, and to the classification and distribution of certain tangible personal property, including an award to her of $5,000.00 in furniture and furnishings that she, in fact, did not have. Those portions of the amended final judgment dissolving the parties' marriage, designating Appellant as the primary residential parent, and awarding child support and related items are affirmed. However, concluding that the amended final judgment lacks sufficient factual findings, as required by section 61.075(3), Florida Statutes (2000), to allow meaningful appellate review of the issues raised by Appellant, we reverse the equitable distribution scheme and the denial of attorney's fees and costs and remand with instructions to the trial court to set out findings of fact to support its rulings. The trial court may receive any additional evidence deemed necessary for the proper resolution of the issues.

After living together for about two years, the parties were married in July 1993. One child, a daughter, was born in February 1997. At approximately the same time as the parties' separation in June 2000, Appellant petitioned to dissolve the marriage. She sought, inter alia, alimony, primary residential custody of the child, child support, an equitable distribution of assets and liabilities, attorney's fees and costs, and certain of her own non-marital assets. Appellee answered and counter-petitioned seeking, inter alia, child custody and support, certain personal and real property (including the marital residence) alleged to be non-marital, and an equitable distribution of assets and liabilities.

The amended final judgment designated Appellant as the primary residential parent and awarded frequent and liberal visitation to Appellee. The court designated 11-1/2 acres of real property (including the marital residence and a barn) as nonmarital, with a $175,000.00 value, and awarded it to Appellee, subject to a $60,000.00 mortgage. The division of marital assets and liabilities (furniture/furnishings from the marital home, two motor vehicles, a stock trailer, a tractor, livestock, a VALIC loan, Sears debt, and Appellant's personal family property) was admittedly unequal, with the court noting that Appellee is responsible for "significant net debt." Alimony was denied based on the relatively short duration (8 years) of the marriage and the finding that Appellant is able to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage. Under the child-support guidelines, the parties' respective net monthly incomes were found to be $2,678.00 (Appellee) and $1,383.00 (Appellant). Appellee was ordered to pay child support in the amount of $550.00 monthly beginning July 1, 2002. He was ordered to maintain health insurance coverage for the parties' child and to pay her medical, dental, and prescription drug costs without any contribution from Appellant. The parties were ordered to pay his or her own attorney's fees and costs.

Appellee's Retirement Benefits

At the dissolution trial, Appellee testified that for the duration of his employment *345 there, he had had a retirement plan at Shands, where he worked as a construction foreman. Section 61.075(5)(a)4., Florida Statutes (2000), defines "marital assets and liabilities" to include "[a]ll vested and nonvested benefits, rights, and funds accrued during the marriage in retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred compensation, and insurance plans and programs." Such vested and nonvested benefits, rights, and funds accrued during the marriage in retirement and other such plans and programs "are marital assets subject to equitable distribution." § 61.076(1), Fla. Stat. (2000); Crockett v. Crockett, 708 So.2d 329 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). Appellant sought one-half of that portion of Appellee's retirement that was accumulated during the marriage.

The parties in a dissolution of marriage action have an obligation "to present evidence of the existence and value of marital assets and the existence and balances due of marital debts in order for the court to include them in the final judgment." Mobley v. Mobley, 724 So.2d 697, 697 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). Toward that end, Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285(d)(10) states, in pertinent part:

(d) Parties' Disclosure Requirements for Initial or Supplemental Proceedings. A party shall serve the following documents in any proceeding for an initial or supplemental request for permanent financial relief, including, but not limited to, a request for ... equitable distribution of assets or debts ...:
* * *
(10) The most recent statement for any profit sharing, retirement, deferred compensation, or pension plan ... in which the party is a participant or alternate payee and the summary plan description for any retirement, profit sharing, or pension plan in which the party is a participant or an alternate payee. (The summary plan description must be furnished to the party on request by the plan administrator as required by 29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(4).)

"The burden of proof is on the spouse who wishes to show that an asset or liability acquired during the marriage is not a marital asset." Deas v. Deas, 592 So.2d 1221, 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). At the trial, Appellant's attorney noted that Appellee would have to provide sufficient information about Appellee's retirement plan to allow the trial court to valuate it. Appellee's October 19, 2000, affidavit, filed on November 13, 2000, did not include his retirement plan as an asset. Nothing in the record before us indicates that Appellee complied with the disclosure requirements of Rule 12.285(d)(10). Appellant contends that the trial court reversibly erred in failing to identify Appellee's retirement benefits as a marital or non-marital asset, to valuate the retirement, and to account for it in any manner in the equitable distribution scheme. We agree that this omission compels reversal. § 61.075(3), Fla. Stat. (2000) (providing, in any contested dissolution action where no stipulation and agreement has been entered and filed, that any distribution of marital assets or marital liabilities must be supported by factual findings based on competent substantial evidence referring to enumerated factors in statutory subsection (1)); Moon v. Moon, 594 So.2d 819 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Statutory sub-subsections (3)(a) and (b) provide that "[t]he distribution of all marital assets and marital liabilities, whether equal or unequal, shall include specific factual findings" regarding "[c]lear identification of nonmarital assets and ownership interests" and "[i]dentification of marital assets, including the individual valuation of significant assets, and designation of which spouse shall *346

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Bluebook (online)
852 So. 2d 343, 2003 WL 21939026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaetani-slade-v-slade-fladistctapp-2003.