Pulitzer v. Pulitzer

2 Fla. Supp. 2d 83
CourtCircuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida
DecidedDecember 28, 1982
DocketCase No. 81-5263 CA (D) 03K
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Fla. Supp. 2d 83 (Pulitzer v. Pulitzer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pulitzer v. Pulitzer, 2 Fla. Supp. 2d 83 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1982).

Opinion

CARL H. HARPER, Circuit Judge.

THIS CAUSE was tried before the court over a protracted period of approximately eighteen days, commencing on September 20, 1982 and concluding on November 9, 1982. The husband, Herbert Pulitzer, Jr., was present and represented by able counsel, Robert T. Scott, Esquire and Mark T. Luttier, Esquire. The wife, Roxanne D. Pulitzer, was also present and represented by able counsel, Joseph D. Farish, Jr., Esquire and Louis L. Williams, Esquire. The court has heard the extensive testimony of the parties and their witnesses, received numerous exhibits in evidence, and heard the closing arguments of respective counsel. The [84]*84court has also reviewed the husband’s Memorandum of Law received on November 16, 1982; the wife’s Memorandum of Law received on November 29, 1982; and the husband’s Reply Memorandum received on December 7, 1982, all of which shall be filed of record in this cause. The court has also considered, but hereby rejects, the proposed final judgments submitted on behalf of each party.

Our so-called “no fault” divorce law was ostensibly enacted, in part to eliminate the emotional and financial blackmail made possible by the continued threat of mental torture by way of embarrassing harassment through public washing of dirty linen, as was noted by Judge Letts in Linda v. Linda, 352 So.2d 1208 (4 DCA 1977). In spite of that laudible goal, section 61.08(1), Florida Statutes, expressly authorizes evidence of adultery on the part of a spouse who seeks alimony, and further provides that “the court may consider any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties”. Also, section 61.13(3)(f), Florida Statutes, expressly provides, among other criteria, that trial courts shall consider “the moral fitness of the parents” in order to determine the best interests of the minor child whose custody is an issue.

Throughout the trial of this case and in writing this judgment, this court was ever mindful of its obligation under McAllister v. McAllister, 345 So.2d 352 (4 DCA 1977), not to mention this court’s own human compassion and empathy for the parties and witnesses, to limit such evidence of misconduct to gross situations so as to avoid “the effect a detailed probe into the private lives of the parties might have on the innocent children involved, not to mention the disruptive effect such an inquiry might have upon the married lives of third persons involved in the illicit conduct and their children”, Claughton v. Claughton, 344 So.2d 944 (3 DCA 1977). However, that is a difficult task that is more easily said than done, under our law.

This hotly contested trial was duly reported by two court reporters, televised gavel to gavel and was highly publicized on the front pages of many newspapers throughout the world. No useful purpose would be served in detailing the sordid evidence herein, except to unnecessarily add to the grief and shame already endured by the parties and witnesses, and their families, and to unduly lengthen this written judgment. Nevertheless, this court is legally obliged to make written findings of fact, based on the evidence presented, in support of its judgment, in compliance with Beville v. Beville, 415 So.2d 151 (4 DCA 1982) and Vawter v. Vawter, 419 So.2d 747 (4 DCA 1982).

Therefore, based on the greater weight of the credible evidence presented at trial, after having closely observed the parties and their witnesses and having considered their appearance and demeanor, and [85]*85having weighed their credibility; and after giving due consideration to the arguments of respective counsel; and being fully advised in the premises, the court makes the following

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This court has jurisdiction of this cause and of the parties in that the parties have been bona fide residents of the State of Florida for more than six (6) months immediately prior to the filing of this dissolution action. The parties were married on January 12, 1976 in the Town of Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida where they cohabited until their last separation in late August or early September, 1981. There were two children born of this marriage on August 28, 1977, twin boys named MacLean Simpson Pulitzer and Zachary Simpson Pulitzer, more affectionally known as Mack and Zack, each of whom is presently in the temporary custody of the wife pursuant to this court’s order dated February 1, 1982, residing in the marital home located at 410 North Lake Way, Palm Beach, Florida.

This was the second marriage for both parties. The wife’s first marriage ended in divorce in 1973 or 1974. There were no children born of that marriage. The husband’s first marriage ended in divorce in July, 1969. There were three children born of that marriage, the custody of whom was awarded to the former wife. Subsequent to that divorce, the husband maintained a close personal contact and relationship with the children, all of whom are now emancipated and living on their own. The husband has enjoyed a good relationship with his former wife who is a well known, highly successful business woman in her own right.

The husband is 52 years of age and is in excellent health, both emotionally and physically. He completed high school at a private boarding school in Massachusetts, one year college at Stanford University and one year college at the University of Virginia. Throughout his adult life, he has been a hard worker and has invested his money wisely, with much financial success. He is a self-made millionaire, several times over. He refers to himself as a “hotel executive”, and owns many properties and other investments, both real and personal, too numerous to catalogue herein, not the least of which are a resort hotel in Miami Beach, Florida and a fifty-one percent controlling interest in a resort hotel in Amsterdam, Holland. He is very active in overseeing his investments, early to bed and early to rise, but has still found time to enjoy his family life and hobbies. He has travelled extensively with his wife and children throughout Europe, the Caribbean and South America. He is a sportsman and enjoys diving, boating, hunting and fishing, particularly in the company of his two boys, Mack and Zack. In short, he is a “man’s man”.

[86]*86The husband’s net worth is in hopeless dispute. Much time has been unnecessarily spent, in pretrial discovery and at trial, in an effort to resolve the dispute. The husband estimates his net worth to be about $2,618,475, whereas the wife estimates his net worth to about $25,000,000. After considering all the financial evidence, a fair estimate of the husband’s net worth is in the neighborhood of $12,500,000 (a nice neighborhood, to say the least) with an annual spendible income of about $240,000, except for the year 1982 when he experienced a $180,000 shortfall due largely to this lawsuit. In any event, the husband’s net worth is more than adequate to meet the financial obligations that will be imposed upon him in this judgment.

The wife is 31 years of age, attractive and is in apparent excellent physical health. She has experienced some emotional problems in the past relating to the marital discord for which she has been treated by medical care, hospitalization and therapeutic counselling, mostly at the insistence of the husband in an effort to save the marriage.

At the request of the husband, the wife has remained unemployed throughout this marriage in order that she might be available to travel with the husband on his business and pleasure trips.

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Related

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415 So. 2d 151 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1982)
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McAllister v. McAllister
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Oliver v. Oliver
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Vawter v. Vawter
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Bluebook (online)
2 Fla. Supp. 2d 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pulitzer-v-pulitzer-flacirct-1982.