HOWARD W. HESSINGER, APPELLANT,
v.
CAROLYN F. HESSINGER, 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.
Howard Hessinger appeals a divorce judgment awarding his ex-wife an interest in real property he inherited from his deceased parents. The appellate court reverses the award of a one-half interest in the home, finding that the wife's earnings during the marriage did not create a special equity in property titled solely in the husband's name.
The appellate court reversed the award of a one-half interest in the property, holding that the wife's earnings during the marriage do not create a special equity in property because such earnings arise from the marital relationship itself, not from a source unconnected with it. The court affirmed the provisions granting the wife use and possession of the home until the youngest child reached majority and requiring equal responsibility for maintenance, repairs, insurance, and taxes.
[1] A special equity in real property is created by an unrebutted showing that consideration for the property was supplied by one spouse from a source unconnected with the ma…
[2] A special equity will not ordinarily arise when property is acquired through funds generated by one working spouse while the other performs normal household duties.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“A special equity is created by an unrebutted showing that consideration for property was supplied by one spouse from a source unconnected with the marital relationship.”
Establishes the legal standard for when a spouse can acquire an interest in property titled to the other spouse based on special equity.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties were married for thirteen years. The marital home was titled solely in Howard Hessinger's name and was acquired through testamentary devis…
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 Special Equity cases and more on FLexlaw
RYDER, Judge.
Howard Hessinger appeals from the terms of a final judgment of dissolution, alleging that the court erred in awarding Carolyn Hessinger an interest in real property owned solely by appellant through devise from his deceased parents. We agree and reverse that portion of the order. The undisputed facts below include that the marital home was titled in the name of appellant, was unencumbered, and was acquired through the testamentary devise of his deceased parents in 1976. Appellee testified that the parties had a joint checking account from which monies were taken for repairs and maintenance of the house. Ap-pellee testified that only her earnings were placed in the joint account used for maintenance of the house. The annual earnings of appellee for the last seven years were between approximately $11,000.00 and $14,-000.00. Appellant earned between $1,000.00 and $3,000.00 per year during that period. Appellant testified that during the marriage, he performed domestic chores and took care of the children. He also testified that he now has obtained employment paying $11,600.00 per year. Among the findings at issue, the court found that appellee had “a special equity in the former marital home of the parties by reason of the maintenance and repairs of the former marital home for which she paid from her separate funds.” The court also found that appellee had “special equities since she has been the principal wage earner of the family unit during much of the thirteen years of the marriage.” The court directed appellant to convey to appellee a one-half interest in the property, “based on her special equity and on her special equities.” The court further granted appellee use and occupancy of the home until majority of the youngest child, and provided that the parties be equally responsible for maintenance, repairs, insurance and taxes on the property.
An award of lump sum alimony is unsupported where, in light of substantially equal income of the parties prior to separation, there is no positive showing of necessity on the wife’s part. Cummings v. Cummings, 330 So. 2d 134 (Fla.1976). The lump sum alimony award below is likewise unsupported where appellee wife had a substantially larger income than the appellant prior to separation. Appellee failed to show any need for lump sum alimony, and a theory of lump sum alimony cannot here support the order awarding her an interest in the house.
A special equity is created by an unrebutted showing that consideration for property was supplied by one spouse from a source unconnected with the marital relationship. Ball v. Ball, 335 So. 2d 5 (Fla.1976). Ordinarily, a special equity will not arise when the property is acquired through funds generated by one working spouse, while the other performs normal household duties. Id. at 7, n. 7. We hold that under the facts below, appellee’s earnings during the marriage are not from a source unconnected with the marital relationship. The subsequent payments from a joint account thus create no special equity on the part of the wife, and the unsupported finding of special equity will not permit award of an interest in the real property.
No support for the challenged award remains, and we reverse that portion of the final judgment of dissolution directing appellant to convey to appellee an undivided one-half interest in the former marital home. We affirm the remainder of the final judgment, specifically including the provision that appellee have use and possession of the former marital home until majority of the youngest minor child, and the provision that appellant be equally responsible for costs of maintenance, repair, insurance and taxes on the home. We hold it to be implicit in this result that appellant may not encumber the home property in any way during appellee’s exclusive possession without consent of appellee or the court below.
REVERSED in part; AFFIRMED in part.
GRIMES, C. J., and SCHEB, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gardner v. Gardner, 452 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)…uity does not arise in favor of an earning spouse based on the investment of his earnings while the other spouse performs normal household and child-rearing responsibilities. Duncan v. Duncan, 379 So. 2d 949 (Fla.1980); Ball; Hessinger v. Hessinger, 378 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); but see Lyons v. Lyons, 436 So. 2d 156 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). We do not think in this case Winston established a special equity in the townhouse. He obtained the benefit of residing in the townhouse while he was in Tallahassee rathe…1 / 2
-
Vandegrift v. Vandegrift, 477 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)…tal relationship. See Ingram v. Ingram, 379 So. 2d 955 (Fla.1980); Duncan v. Duncan, 379 So. 2d 949 (Fla.1980); Mitchell v. Mitchell, 368 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Hottman v. Hottman, 418 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); Hessinger v. Hessinger, 378 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Fiedler v. Fiedler, 375 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) cert. denied, 383 So. 2d 1193 (Fla.1980). In this case, unlike Walser v. Walser, 473 So. 2d 306 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), there was a specific agreement and understanding of the pa…1 / 2
-
Parker v. Parker, 405 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)…sum award in a marriage of this duration and under these facts is wholly inappropriate. Yandell v. Yandell, 39 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1949); Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1980); Ball v. Ball, 335 So. 2d 5 (Fla.1976); Hessinger v. Hessinger, 378 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). The order of the trial court is reversed and remanded with directions to restore to the husband his interest in the jointly-held property. On remand, wife will be entitled to a set-off for mortgage payments and improvements mad…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Shannon v. State, 335 So. 2d 5 (Fla. 1976)
- Cummings v. Cummings, 330 So. 2d 134 (Fla. 1976)