Gilroy v. Gilroy

163 So. 3d 674, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6240, 2015 WL 1929184
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 29, 2015
Docket2D14-2950
StatusPublished

This text of 163 So. 3d 674 (Gilroy v. Gilroy) 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
Gilroy v. Gilroy, 163 So. 3d 674, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6240, 2015 WL 1929184 (Fla. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

SILBERMAN, Judge.

Brian K. Gilroy, the Former Husband, seeks review of the supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage that modifies timesharing and child support based primarily on his relocation to Arizona. We reverse the child support award based on the erroneous denial of the Former Husband’s request for a continuance at the final hearing. The supplemental final judgment is otherwise affirmed.

When the parties divorced in 2007, they entered into a mediation agreement that awarded Patricia A. Gilroy, the Former Wife, primary residential responsibility over the parties’ minor children with the Former Husband having significant time-sharing. The agreement required the Former Husband to pay $2000 in monthly • child support but also provided him $5000 in monthly alimony for four years.

After the alimony award expired in 2011, the Former Husband filed a supplemental petition for modification of child support. In 2012, the parties entered into another agreement in which child support was modified so that the Former Husband paid nothing. At this time, the Former Wife’s income as a physician was so much greater than the Former Husband’s that she would have owed him child support under the guidelines even though she had primary residential responsibility. The parties agreed that the Former Wife would pay for the children’s private school tuition and health insurance instead of paying child support to the Former Husband.

When the parties provided the terms of the 2012 agreement to the trial court for approval, they did not include a child support guidelines worksheet. The prescient trial court expressed concern about this omission because there would be no “benchmark” from which to calculate support in the event of a subsequent modification proceeding. The parties nonetheless declined to file a guidelines worksheet. The court made sure the record reflected that the support determination was premised on the Former Wife’s payment of the children’s tuition and health insurance.

In late 2013, the Former Husband filed a supplemental petition for modification of timesharing due to his relocation to Arizona. The Former Husband attached a financial affidavit to this petition. The Former Wife filed an answer and counter-petition in' which she requested that child support “be reduced.” She also requested that the child support guidelines be recalculated to include the private school tuition that she was already paying. She did not attach a financial affidavit to her answer and counter-petition.

A successor judge held a final hearing on the supplemental modification petition and counter-petition in May 2014. The Former Husband, who was proceeding pro se, informed the court that counsel for the Former Wife had emailed him a financial affidavit the previous day. When the Former Wife attempted to enter that financial affidavit into evidence, the Former Husband objected due to its late disclosure. He explained that the affidavit reflected a large decrease in the Former Wife’s income and said that he questioned its accuracy. He also requested a continuance on the issue of child support. The court denied the request and admitted the document.

The Former Wife testified that her income had decreased since January 2014 due to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. She asserted that insurance companies had responded to the Act by dropping providers; she claimed that she *677 had already been dropped by two or three companies and lost the patients covered by those policies. She also testified she had no reason to believe her income would recover. The Former Wife’s expert testified she had earned approximately $400,000 annually for the past five years. However, he calculated her annualized gross income for 2014 at $245,000 using data from the Former Wife’s accounting software for January to March 2014. He found the Former Wife’s explanation for her reduction in income logical based on other health care providers’ similar experiences.

The Former Wife also relied on a child support guidelines worksheet that her expert testified was prepared during the 2012 modification proceedings. Using this worksheet as a benchmark, the Former Wife’s expert prepared a 2014 child support guidelines worksheet in which he calculated the total child support obligation by adding private school tuition to the statutory basic obligation. The Former Husband objected to the Former Wife’s reliance on the worksheet and testified that the tuition was not included in the 2012 worksheet as he remembered it.

The trial court entered a supplemental final judgment modifying the Former Husband’s timesharing and requiring him to pay child support. The court attached three different child support guidelines worksheets to the supplemental final judgment as exhibits 1-3. Exhibit 1 set forth an obligation for three minor children and was to be used until the eldest remaining minor child turned eighteen or graduated from high school. Exhibit 2 set forth an obligation for two minor children effective upon the expiration of exhibit 1. Exhibit 3 set forth a retroactive obligation for three minor children using data prior to January 1, 2014. The court calculated the total retroactive support as $8409 which it ordered the Former Husband to pay as a lump sum within six weeks. In exhibits 1 and 2, the court used each party’s testimony regarding his or her own current income. In all three exhibits, the court included private school tuition in- the total child support obligation.

. On appeal, the Former Husband raises several challenges to the supplemental final judgment. He first argues that the trial court erred in denying his request for a continuance based on the late disclosure of the Former Wife’s financial affidavit. We review the trial court’s ruling on such a request for an abuse of discretion. Richardson v. Richardson, 900 So.2d 656, 659 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). One of the key factors to be considered on review is whether denial of the continuance resulted in prejudice to the movant. Riley v. Riley, 14 So.3d 1284, 1287 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009).

Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285(e)(1) requires the service and filing of a financial affidavit in supplemental dissolution proceedings. And service must be accomplished “within 45 days of service of the initial pleading on the respondent.” Fla. Fam. L.R.P. 12.285(b)(2). Rule 12.285(f)(1) provides a continuing duty to supplement financial affidavits when there is a material change in financial circumstances. For its part, section 61.30(14), Florida Statutes (2013), provides that the respondent in child support modification proceedings “shall include his or her affidavit with the answer to the petition or as soon thereafter as is practicable, but in any case at least 72 hours prior to any hearing on the finances of either party.”

The Former Wife does not dispute that she failed to comply with rule 12.285 and section 61.30(14) by providing her financial affidavit the day before the final hearing. She asserts that the Former Husband waived compliance with these authorities. She also asserts that the Former Husband *678 is unable to establish any prejudice from the denial of his request for a continuance.

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Related

Richardson v. Richardson
900 So. 2d 656 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)
Riley v. Riley
14 So. 3d 1284 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Kaiser v. Harrison
985 So. 2d 1226 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
Daniel v. Daniel
922 So. 2d 1041 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Wilson v. Wilson
559 So. 2d 698 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
Robinson v. Robinson
668 So. 2d 1074 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1996)

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163 So. 3d 674, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6240, 2015 WL 1929184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilroy-v-gilroy-fladistctapp-2015.