SANDRA SCHILLER PAGE, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHEL DOUGLAS PAGE, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Sandra Schiller Page appealed a divorce judgment that denied her alimony and awarded only $40 per week in child support. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed the child support award, holding that the trial court erred by failing to consider the husband's spendthrift trust (generating approximately $17,000 annually) as an available asset when determining his ability to pay child support.
The court held that the spendthrift trust constitutes an asset of Michel Page that must be considered in determining his ability to pay child support. The child support award of $40 per week was reversed and remanded for recalculation. The denial of alimony was affirmed as it was supported by additional factors beyond financial inability.
[1] A parent's ability to pay child support includes consideration of all assets available to them, regardless of source.
[2] A spendthrift trust beneficiary's eligibility for income distributions may be considered when determining child support obligations.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The prime criteria by which to measure child support is the child's needs and the parents' ability to pay.”
Establishes the foundational standard for determining child support obligations.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSandra and Michel Page were married for three years. Michel worked for a family business earning $100 per week but was also the beneficiary of a spend…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Parental Ability To Pay cases and more on FLexlaw
HAVERFIELD, Chief Judge.
Sandra Schiller Page appeals a final dissolution of marriage judgment denying her request for alimony and directing that her husband, the respondent, Michel Douglas Page, pay $40 per week as and for support of their minor son. The basic issue to be resolved is whether the trial judge erred in his determination of the amount of child support by failing to consider a trust established for Michel Page.
The parties were married three years during which time Michel Page was and is employed by a business owned by his family and earns $100 per week. Although Michel would have difficulty in qualifying as a spendthrift based on his salary; nevertheless, he is the beneficiary of a spendthrift trust which was established by his father and produces an annual income of approximately $17,000. With respect to the distribution of income, the trust contains the following:
“Paragraph 1: The Trustee shall hold the entire Trust Estate which it has received under this Instrument together with all additions, accretions, gains, profits, income or other enhancements thereof for the benefit of MICHEL D. PAGE or his issue, in accordance with the following provisions:
“A. Prior to the Termination Event (as defined in Paragraph 2 below) the Trustee may in the exercise of its sole discretion, either:
“(1) Accumulate all or any portion of the net income of the Trust, or
“(2) Distribute to or for the benefit of the Beneficiary, all or any portion of the net income of the Trust as such net income shall be from time to time determined in accordance with the provisions of this Instrument. Subject to the provisions of Article III (relating to Spendthrift Provisions), distributions of income may be made to or for the benefit of the Beneficiary for any lawful purpose, including, but not limited to: the purchase of luxury items for the Beneficiary; the payment of rent or mortgage payments for the Beneficiary’s living quarters; the payment of any insurance premiums for the Beneficiary, including but not limited to those for the Beneficiary’s health, major medical, and life insurance; the payment of any type of educational expenses for the Beneficiary; the payment of the Beneficiary’s medical expenses; and for any other purpose which is not contrary to the laws of the State of Florida.”
The record reflects that the trial judge in awarding the $40 weekly child support failed to consider the trust established for Michel as an available asset and the fact that Michel under the broad trust provisions would be eligible for distributions of the income for the purpose of contributing to the support of his minor child.
The prime criteria by which to measure child support is the child’s needs and the parents’ ability to pay. Simonet v. Simonet, 279 So. 2d 35 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973). In determining a husband’s (or wife’s) ability to pay, the court properly may and should consider not only the husband’s income alone, but also any and all assets available to him regardless of the source. Dixon v. Moody, 352 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977) and See Sisson v. Sisson, 336 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1976); 10A Fla.Jur. Dissolution of Marriage § 80 (1973).
We hold that the trust is an asset of Michel Page and, therefore, reverse the child support award of $40 per week and remand the cause to the trial court to reconsider the amount of child support in light of this asset and the income available therefrom.
We next considered the denial of alimony and conclude that although the final judgment recites no alimony was awarded because of the financial inability on the part of Michel, there are additional reasons recited by the trial judge at the conclusion of the final hearing to support the denial of Sandra’s alimony request. See Shaw v. Shaw, 334 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1976).
Last, we find no abuse of discretion in denying Sandra an award of attorney’s fees.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Oxley v. Oxley, 695 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…ome he was entitled to receive from the trustee is effectively a decision to put aside a portion of income for savings and investment. Clearly, the father’s “income,” for the purpose of determining child support, includes trust income. Page v. Page, 371 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). Trust income is recognized in section 61.046(4), Florida Statutes, which defines income as (4) “Income” means any form of payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commissions…
-
Fenton L. Gilbert v. Gilbert, 447 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)…and maintenance. In that case, an ex-wife was permitted to garnish monthly payments to the husband from the City of Miami’s retirement fund even though the enacting ordinance specifically exempted the pension funds from garnishment. In Page v. Page, 371 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), the court indirectly approved the invasion of a spendthrift trust by directing the trial judge to take into consideration the income received by the father from a spendthrift trust in determining the proper amount of child suppor…
-
Liebler v. Liebler, 413 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…975), and to the husband’s laudable desire to assist the slightly handicapped children in becoming stronger academic achievers. The prime criteria by which to measure child support are the child’s needs and the parents’ ability to pay. Page v. Page, 371 So. 2d 543, 544 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Davis v. Davis, 371 So. 2d 591, 593 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). A child’s educational need is a factor to which the trial judge should give due regard. Bordman v. Bordman, 231 So. 2d 543, 544 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970). Having erroneously c…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Shaw v. Shaw, 334 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 1976)
- Sisson v. Sisson, 336 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1976)
- Simonet v. Simonet, 279 So. 2d 35 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
- Roberts v. State, 352 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)