Wilisch v. Wilisch

335 So. 2d 861
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 3, 1976
Docket75-1256 to 75-1261
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 335 So. 2d 861 (Wilisch v. Wilisch) 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
Wilisch v. Wilisch, 335 So. 2d 861 (Fla. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

335 So.2d 861 (1976)

Lillian WILISCH, Appellant,
v.
Theodore WILISCH, Appellee.

Nos. 75-1256 to 75-1261.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

August 3, 1976.

*862 Helliwell, Melrose & DeWolf and William E. Sadowski, Miami, for appellant.

Headley & Sudduth; Sam Daniels, Miami, for appellee.

Before PEARSON, HENDRY and NATHAN, JJ.

*863 PEARSON, Judge.

The appellant, Lillian Wilisch, is the former wife of the appellee, Theodore Wilisch. She was the plaintiff in the trial court in an action for partition of real property which had been held as an estate by the entirety but which, subsequent to a dissolution of marriage entered in 1971, had been held in common. As will later be discussed in the statement of facts, several appeals by Mrs. Wilisch have been consolidated here. Although five points are presented and will be dealt with, the most important is whether the trial court erred in denying partition.

In approaching a statement of the facts, it is helpful to consider the circuit court cases separately.

In 1971, the wife, after some 35 years of marriage, filed an action for divorce against defendant. Her complaint did not seek findings of special equities, contributions relative to two parcels of real property then owned by the parties, or a partition of the properties.

At the time of their divorce, the parties owned two parcels of real property. The fist was their marital residence, which includes an efficiency apartment that produces rental income. The second was a twenty-unit apartment building, which naturally produces substantial rental income.

The final judgment of divorce does not contain any findings of special equities of the parties in, or to, the two parcels of real property they owned jointly while married. The court did not reserve jurisdiction to consider such matters. The court did charge each parcel with provisions for the division of the use and income of the properties, as follows: (1) the wife was awarded "permanent exclusive use of the home of the parties;" (2) the husband was to manage a twenty-unit apartment house owned by the parties and was entitled to a salary of $388.44 a month — the same amount the wife testified she was earning; and (3) the apartment rentals and the rent from the efficiency unit at the home were to be equally divided after deducting expenses (including the husband's salary). No appeal was taken from the final judgment of divorce.

Beginning in May of 1972, disputes arose between the parties regarding the former husband's management of the apartment building as a result of his alleged failure to comply with the terms of the final judgment. The former wife filed a petition for modification, a motion for order adjudging defendant in contempt and an amended petition for modification. In the amended petition, she sought payment for her share of the profits from the operation of the apartment building. The court granted plaintiff's petition and ordered the defendant to comply with the terms of the final judgment and to pay plaintiff her share of the apartment income.

In September, 1972, Mrs. Wilisch brought an action for a partition of the two parcels of real property which she and her husband owned as tenants in common, with each owning an equal, undivided interest. The defendant's answer contained a simple denial of some of the allegations in the complaint and, furthermore, asserted as an affirmative defense "that the rights of the parties as to the two parcels ... were determined by this Honorable Court in its Final Decree of Divorce ..." and that "the plaintiff is estopped from maintaining the instant action [to seek a partition]."

On February 4, 1974, after an evidentiary hearing, the court entered an order in which he ruled that:

1. The court would permit a partition but would not allow a sale of the property on the Courthouse steps.
2. The court would appoint a Commission consisting of three individuals.
3. The Commission was to present its recommendations after considering the Divorce Decree, the circumstances surrounding the Divorce Decree and such equities and contributions as to which the parties may present evidence.

The plaintiff, former wife, moved the court for permission to amend her complaint for partition in order to pray for consideration *864 in the partition judgment of the money she claimed that the defendant had not paid her from the proceeds of the operation of the apartment house. The motion to amend the complaint was denied and error is assigned upon this ruling.

After a hearing at which the parties presented both argument and evidence, the commissioners submitted their recommendations. Two of the commissioners recommended a sale of the properties and a distribution of the proceeds so that the former wife would receive a slightly smaller percentage of the proceeds of the sale than the percentage of the former husband. The third commissioner recommended a distribution in kind with the wife receiving only the residence property.

On September 25, 1974, after the commission had submitted its reports, the former husband filed a petition for modification in the divorce case. The relief sought by this petition was a modification of the final judgment of divorce to include findings of special equities of the parties in relation to the two parcels of property involved in the partition suit.

The sole ground for this petition was the defendant's contention that the plaintiff's testimony taken in the course of the partition case concerning her income at the time of that hearing "was at such wide variance from that sworn to by the Plaintiff at the final hearing for divorce as to have been designed to consciously mislead this Honorable Court in the entry of its Final Judgment of Divorce," and, consequently, ". . as to have amounted to a fraud upon the Court." Furthermore, it argued that testimony in the partition proceeding indicated that the two properties had been purchased through the defendant's efforts and resources, that he had intended for the apartment building to replace the business in which he had been involved until that time and from which he had derived his support. Plaintiff moved to strike the petition on the ground that it was barred by RCP 1.540 because it was not filed within one year from the entry of the final judgment. Error is assigned upon this ruling.

From this point forward, the court treated the partition proceeding and the modification proceeding together and consolidated them. All subsequent pleadings, orders, etc., were filed under both case numbers.

Thereafter, plaintiff filed a motion to disqualify the judge upon the ground that he was proceeding upon his memory of the testimony in the divorce case prior to the final judgment and, therefore, was a witness in the cause. No transcript of the testimony was available.

Ultimately, on July 3, 1975, the court entered an amended order denying plaintiff's claim for partition and her petition for payment of her accrued share of the profits from the apartment house, and granting the defendant's petition for modification of the judgment of divorce and an order denying plaintiff's motions for rehearing and for disqualification. The judgment provides:

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Bluebook (online)
335 So. 2d 861, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilisch-v-wilisch-fladistctapp-1976.