Ospina-Baraya v. Heiligers

909 So. 2d 465, 2005 WL 2016887
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 24, 2005
Docket4D05-132
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 909 So. 2d 465 (Ospina-Baraya v. Heiligers) 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
Ospina-Baraya v. Heiligers, 909 So. 2d 465, 2005 WL 2016887 (Fla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

909 So.2d 465 (2005)

Juan Diego OSPINA-BARAYA, Appellant,
v.
Patricia HEILIGERS, Appellee.

No. 4D05-132.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

August 24, 2005.

*467 Carlos F. Gonzalez of Gonzalez & Walsh LLP, Miami, for appellant.

Lee Milich of Lee Milich, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Juan Diego Ospina-Baraya appeals the trial court's order enforcing a marital settlement agreement incorporated in a final judgment of dissolution and accepting in part and rejecting in part a Domestic Relations Commissioner's interpretation of the agreement. Based on our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the agreement, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

The marital settlement agreement contains the following provisions. Section 8 addresses equitable distribution and provides the following in subsection (c):

The Wife shall, simultaneously with the execution of this Agreement, transfer all of her right, title, and interest in the entity that owns the condominium located at Two Grove Isle, Unit 701, Miami, Florida. Husband shall be responsible for any and all fees incurred by the transfer contemplated herein, including recording fees, documentary stamps, and so forth. The husband shall retain all rental income from Feb. 1 forward and may at his option reside in the residence. However, the children are entitled to the benefit of 2/3 of the rental income or fair rental income from this property. The interest of the parties' children, is and shall remain a two-thirds interest in the property, or the entity that owns the property. Nothing contained in the provisions herein shall be construed so as to restrict the entity's option to alienate or transfer its interest in the condominium, so long as any proceeds from such a transfer [are] reinvested in property of equal or greater value, provided that the children's two-thirds interest remains and is carried into any successor property or properties.
The parties agree that the tuition, registration, fees, books and school related expenses commencing Feb. 1, 2004 shall be paid from the children's interest in the Grove Isle residence (reducing the children's interest in said residence by the cost of schooling, and increasing father's interest in the Grove Isle residence by a like amount).

The stock certificates reveal that each child's one-third interest is held in the name of Heiligers, in trust for, the child in question. There is no written trust agreement governing this relationship.

Several other sections of the agreement relate to the Grove Isle condominium entity. Section 5 of the marital settlement agreement provides that Heiligers would receive $6,000 per month in alimony until the younger child graduates from high school and that:

If Husband fails to deliver payment of any monthly amount, that failure shall constitute a curable breach. In the event the breach is not cured upon written notice to the Husband by the Husband within 15 days of the payment due date, his breach shall trigger a non-curable default without further notice or action by the Wife. If the Husband is in default, he shall be subject to a penalty consisting of his unconditional obligation to transfer by warranty deed any and all of his right, title and interest in the entity which owns the condominium whose common address is Two Grove Isle, Unit 701, Miami, Florida. The *468 Husband's interest in the entity that owns Unit 701 shall be held in escrow pursuant to an escrow agent to be signed and executed by the parties contemporaneously with this Agreement. Husband shall also pay any and all attorney's fees incurred as a result of prosecuting an action for failure to pay any monthly obligation or default, or both.

Section 6 of the marital settlement agreement provides that Heiligers would receive $4,000 per month in child support until both children reached majority, became self-supporting, became emancipated, or died and that:

If Husband fails to deliver payment of any monthly amount, that failure shall constitute a curable breach. In the event the breach is not cured upon written notice to the Husband by the Husband within 15 days of the payment due date, his breach shall trigger a non-curable default without further notice or action by the Wife. If the Husband is in default, he shall be subject to a penalty consisting of his unconditional obligation to transfer by warranty deed any and all of his right, title and interest in the entity which owns the condominium whose common address is Two Grove Isle, Unit 701, Miami, Florida. The Husband's interest in the entity that owns Unit 701 shall be held in escrow pursuant to an escrow agent to be signed and executed by the parties contemporaneously with this Agreement. Husband shall also pay any and all attorney's fees incurred as a result of prosecuting an action for failure to pay any monthly obligation or default, or both.

Finally, Section 8(d) provides that Ospina maintain a life insurance policy in the amount of $1.5 million for the benefit of the current beneficiaries and that:

If Husband causes, directly or indirectly, his life insurance policy to lapse, that failure shall constitute a curable breach. In the event the breach is not cured by the Husband after written notice to him within 15 days of the lapse in policy, his breach shall trigger a non-curable default without further notice or action by the Wife. If the Husband is in default, he shall be subject to a penalty consisting of his unconditional obligation to transfer by warranty deed any and all of his right, title and interest in the entity which owns the condominium whose common address is Two Grove Isle, Unit 701, Miami, Florida. The Husband's interest in the entity that owns Unit 701 shall be held in escrow pursuant to an escrow agent to be signed and executed by the parties contemporaneously with this Agreement. Husband shall also pay any and all attorney's fees incurred as a result of prosecuting an action for failure to pay any monthly obligation or default, or both.

Ospina sought the enforcement of the marital settlement agreement on several grounds, including that of the transfer of Heiligers's interest in the condominium entity. A Domestic Relations Commissioner/General Master heard motions to enforce the marital settlement agreement and entered a written report entitled Report on Summary Judgment/Enforcement Hearing. The commissioner included a summary of the testimony of Heiligers in the report as findings of fact and noted that Heiligers testified that she was concerned that Ospina wanted to hold the children's shares in the entity owning the condominium in a trust without a trust agreement, as she prefers an independent trustee, and to sell the condominium to purchase property in Colombia where it might be beyond the reach of Florida courts. Heiligers admitted that she removed *469 money from the entity account to pay expenses and indicated that all payments on the condominium were current except for the taxes and brokerage fees. Heiligers then acknowledged that there has never been a trust agreement or an independent trustee and that there is no contractual provision requiring a trustee or prohibiting Ospina from serving as trustee.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 So. 2d 465, 2005 WL 2016887, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ospina-baraya-v-heiligers-fladistctapp-2005.