Smith v. Bollinger

137 So. 2d 881
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 21, 1962
Docket2682
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 137 So. 2d 881 (Smith v. Bollinger) 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
Smith v. Bollinger, 137 So. 2d 881 (Fla. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

137 So.2d 881 (1962)

G. Kirk SMITH, Appellant,
v.
Joan P. BOLLINGER, Appellee.

No. 2682.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. Second District.

February 21, 1962.

*882 Thomas C. MacDonald, Jr., Shackleford, Farrior, Stallings, Glos & Evans, Tampa, for appellant.

R.M. Cargell, Lindsey & Cargell, St. Petersburg Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

This is an interlocutory appeal by G. Kirk Smith who was defendant below in a suit filed by Joan P. Bollinger, his former wife from whom he had been granted a divorce. The complaint was in the nature of a bill of review by which the plaintiff sought partial invalidation of the divorce decree "insofar as it does not award the plaintiff the custody of said children, and insofar as it deprives the plaintiff of a lump sum settlement in and for her interest in the defendant's property, and insofar as it deprives her of her interest in the joint home of the plaintiff and defendant."

The chancellor denied the defendant's motion to strike portions of the amended complaint and his motion for summary judgment. The defendant thereupon brought this interlocutory appeal and raised several points which relate essentially to the one question as to whether the chancellor erred in denying the defendant's motion for summary judgment. A comprehensive review of the record convinces us that summary judgment should have been entered for the defendant G. Kirk Smith and the amended complaint of Joan Bollinger finally dismissed.

The pleadings and the affidavits, exhibits and depositions submitted in the summary judgment proceedings show that the parties were married June 20, 1953 and had two children. In 1955 and 1956 Joan had two illicit love affairs with one Glenn Underwood which Kirk forgave. Thereafter, in July of 1959 Joan had a third affair with one Don Bollinger. The marriage of the parties could no longer be reconciled, so they entered into a separation agreement.

The agreement cited that Joan, after ten days deliberation and discussion with her family, entered into the agreement voluntarily in full settlement of all her claims. Kirk was to pay the cost of the contemplated divorce and his suit would be based upon extreme mental cruelty. In order to avoid local publicity the suit was to be brought in another county. The custody of the children was to be in Kirk and Joan jointly with equal rights of visitation. It was further provided that in the event Joan remarried she would automatically relinquish her joint custody of the children, but retain reasonable rights of visitation.

The separation agreement further spelled out a rather complicated arrangement for living under the same roof, though not as man and wife. In this connection Kirk was to pay Joan for the time spent in caring for the children on an hourly rate limited to $75.00 weekly maximum. Kirk agreed to pay all expenses for maintenance of the children and meals for Joan. Joan was to retain as her own a 1959 Pontiac automobile while Kirk was to have absolute ownership of the home place and its contents.

Joan and Kirk lived in the same home for a few days until Joan resumed going out with Don Bollinger. Kirk told Joan to get out of the house and, if he had his way, the children would never know they had a mother. She went to a hospital for a few days. Upon advice of her mother Joan employed independent counsel in St. Petersburg. Kirk filed his complaint for divorce and the original separation agreement was abandoned. Joan filed an answer, and waiver of notice of all further proceedings with certain exceptions, and subscribed to a new stipulation or agreement between the parties, all of which was made a part of the record.

The stipulation provided for a property settlement which was substantially incorporated in the final decree. Kirk was given full custody of the children with visitation rights in Joan, and Kirk was to provide the support for each child when visiting her. Joan was to receive the automobile *883 and Kirk was to place $3,000.00 in trust for her to be paid at the rate of $200.00 per month with interest until exhausted. Joan was to execute a deed conveying her rights in the home property held by the entirety together with the furnishings. The decree would operate as a deed if she failed to execute the conveyance.

The divorce decree was entered October 1st, 1959 and thereafter on October 12, 1959 Joan and Don Bollinger applied for a marriage license. They were married but Joan left him approximately two months later. On April 18, 1960 Joan filed her complaint in the nature of a bill of review. Kirk had remarried in September 1960. He moved to dismiss Joan's complaint on the ground of res judicata. In her depositions Joan admitted adultery. The chancellor denied Kirk's motions to dismiss and for summary judgment and granted Joan's motion to amend her complaint.

The substance of the amended complaint is that threats by Kirk that "if I had my way the children would never know they had a mother," when Joan was upset and highly emotional, was sufficient to constitute duress, entitling her to have a redetermination of property rights. The appellee's brief states in addition that the appellant threatened to expose the appellee to a charge of adultery and drag her name through the mud. There is no evidence substantiating charges to this effect, and it therefore will not be considered on appeal.

The appellant's first point states:

"Where the court has jurisdiction of the parties (both of whom were represented by counsel) and jurisdiction over the subject matter, can a final decree of divorce be collaterally attacked by the divorced wife after her remarriage, in the absence of fraud, misrepresentation, or other inequitable conduct amounting to fraud by the plaintiff-husband who procured that final decree of divorce?"

Joan was represented by counsel of her choice. The evidence and the master's findings clearly establish that she was at fault. She disappeared on July 28, 1959 at 10:00 A.M. and was found by a deputy sheriff in the company of Don Bollinger at 10:00 P.M. She signed the stipulation after consulting her parents, accepted the benefits, and in October 1959, after her marriage to Don Bollinger, sold the automobile.

In Cooper v. Cooper, Fla. 1954, 69 So.2d 881, a woman brought suit against her former husband to set aside a deed allegedly signed under duress. An order entering judgment for the plaintiff was reversed, when the Supreme Court found there was insufficient evidence to support duress. In that case at 883, 884, the opinion stated:

"In the first place the woman clearly accepted the benefit of the commitment relative to property division that she signed. There is no hint that she was coerced to sign that instrument which was the basis for the deeds. We may assume that she accepted the benefits of that arrangement and retains them.
"In the second place, although we have said we will not attempt to pass upon disputed testimony we must be aware of the burden the appellee assumed when she attacked the validity of the deeds. At the time she was the adverse party in a divorce suit against the grantee so no fiduciary relationship existed, Shlensky v. Shlensky, 369 Ill. 179, 15 N.E.2d 694, and she, therefore, had to prove the coercion the same as if the man to whom she was still technically bound were a stranger. * * *
"Taking the evidence as a whole the appellee's own version is wanting and the corroboration is lacking as well. As was said in the last cited case

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Bluebook (online)
137 So. 2d 881, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-bollinger-fladistctapp-1962.