EVELYN ALLENE HAMBLEN, APPELLANT,
v.
CLARK GENE HAMBLEN, 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.
In this dissolution of marriage case, the Florida District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's award of alimony to the wife as inadequate, finding it fell well below the statutory criteria of the husband's ability to pay, the wife's needs, and the parties' shared standard of living during the marriage. The court remanded for a new alimony determination while affirming all other aspects of the judgment.
The court held that the alimony award was so inadequate as to constitute an abuse of discretion and must be reversed and remanded for a higher award consistent with the statutory criteria.
[1] Alimony awards are reviewed for abuse of discretion based on the husband's ability to pay, the wife's needs, and the marital standard of living.
[2] An alimony award may constitute an abuse of discretion if it is so inadequate as to be well below the wife's needs and the husband's ability to pay.
Previewing 2 of 4 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 primary criteria to be used by a trial judge in determining alimony are the husband's ability to pay, needs of the wife, and the shared standard of living during the marriage.”
Establishes the controlling legal standard for evaluating alimony awards in Florida
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 married in 1956 when appellant was 15 and appellee was 19. During the 23-year marriage, appellant worked only briefly as a nurse's aide an…
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 Alimony Criteria cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Appellant wife challenges the terms of a judgment of dissolution of marriage, alleging the awards of alimony and child support to be inadequate.
The parties married in 1956 when appellant was fifteen years old and appellee nineteen. Mrs. Hamblen never obtained a high school education. During the marriage, appellant has worked only for brief periods as a nurse’s aide and grocery cashier, acting as a homemaker and raising the parties’ three children. She has no income currently, is in poor health and lists expenses of $450.00 weekly in her financial affidavit.
Appellee has had the same employer at all relevant times, and currently has a gross income of $562.00 weekly as director of a regional bakery plant. His employer also provides for him work clothes, an automobile and automobile expenses. The court granted dissolution prior to the final hearing on property and alimony issues, and appellee remarried before the final hearing. Appellee noted his expenses only by stating that he simply deposited all of his income into his present wife’s account.
The parties lived in a Plant City home worth between $80,000.00 and $90,000.00, maintained another automobile and had a pool installed. Only one minor child, also in poor health, remains at home with appellant.
The court entered a final judgment awarding appellant use of the marital home until the youngest child becomes of age, custody of the minor child, use of the automobile, ordered that appellee make mortgage payments on the home until the minor child comes of age, and ordered appellee to make payments of $150.00 per month alimony and $100.00 per month child support, and to provide hospitalization coverage on the minor child.
Appellant is a thirty-nine year old woman in poor health, with limited education, and with little or no employment experience. She devoted twenty-three years to her marriage to appellee. Under the terms of the final judgment, appellant and her minor son will have income of $250.00 per month, plus the home. After the child reaches majority in three years, appellant will have only $150.00 per month to live on, plus her one-half interest in the undetermined equity in the house. Appellee has a gross income of $2,435.00 per month.
The primary criteria to be used by a trial judge in determining alimony are the husband’s ability to pay, needs of the wife, and the shared standard of living during the marriage. See Sisson v. Sisson, 336 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1976); Caracristi v. Caracristi, 324 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). Below, the award is well below the wife’s needs, the husband’s ability to pay, and the shared standard. We hold the award to be so inadequate as to constitute an abuse of discretion. Hall v. Hall, 363 So. 2d 137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978).
We therefore REVERSE the award of alimony, and REMAND with directions to award higher alimony payments consistent with this opinion. All other aspects of the final judgment are AFFIRMED.
HOBSON, Acting C.'J., and RYDER and DANAHY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Beecham v. Beecham, 407 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)…re is a severe disparity in the effective incomes of the parties that warrants more alimony than awarded by the trial court, Lewis v. Lewis, 402 So. 2d 1306 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Weider v. Weider, 402 So. 2d 66 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Hamblen v. Hamblen, 380 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980), and that the alimony award should be permanent, Colucci v. Colucci, supra; Gerber v. Gerber, 392 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980), we will not hesitate to declare that the trial court abused its discretion. We decide only that the…
-
Gillette v. Gillette, 587 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…the services rendered by the wife in homemaking and child care, there is no doubt that the award of only $150.00 a month as permanent periodic alimony is grossly inadequate. See Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1980); Hamblen v. Hamblen, 380 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 389 So. 2d 1110 (Fla.1980); § 61.09, Fla.Stat. (1989). Finally, the wife contends that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to award her attorney’s fees and costs. We agree. A trial court may award attorne…
Authorities Cited
- Sisson v. Sisson, 336 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1976)
- Heinecke Instruments Co. v. Webber, 324 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)
- Hall v. Hall, 363 So. 2d 137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)