THEODORE D. AYLWARD, APPELLANT,
v.
GAIL P. AYLWARD, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1982-10-20
Nos. 81-1398, 81-1832
BOARDMAN, A.C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur.
420 So. 2d 660 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1982)

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.

Synopsis

A husband appeals a divorce judgment awarding his ex-wife $3,500 monthly alimony, $2,000 monthly child support, and $150,000 in lump sum alimony plus half the marital home equity and a sailboat. The court affirmed the award, finding it justified by the husband's substantial medical income and the wife's sacrifices during his education and in raising four minor children.


Holding

The court affirmed the alimony and child support awards as justified by the husband's substantial income and the wife's contributions to the marriage and care of minor children. The court affirmed most of the contempt order but held that the wife cannot enforce compliance with temporary support arrearages not specifically addressed in the final judgment.


Headnotes

[1] Permanent periodic alimony and child support awards are justified when a husband has a successful medical practice and earns a substantial income, while the wife remains…

[2] A court may equitably divide marital assets into shares of approximately equal value as lump sum alimony when those assets were acquired during the marriage.

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Key Quotes

“Under these circumstances, the liberal provisions for permanent periodic alimony and child support were justified.”

Establishes the court's rationale for approving substantial alimony and child support based on the husband's high income and the wife's marital contributions.

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Facts & Procedural History

The parties married in 1965 while the husband was in medical school; the wife worked as a nurse to support him and now stays home caring for four mino…

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Opinion of the Court
GRIMES, Judge.

GRIMES, Judge.

The husband appeals from a judgment of dissolution which awarded the wife $3,500 per month in permanent periodic alimony and $2,000 per month in child support. The judgment also awarded the wife $150,000 in lump sum alimony payable over nine equal annual installments. As further lump sum alimony, the court granted to the wife the husband’s totally owned interest in a $25,-000 sailboat and the husband’s one-half interest in the marital home. The husband’s one-half interest in the equity of the home was worth $87,500.

The parties were married in 1965 while the husband was in medical school. At the outset, the wife worked as a nurse thereby providing some financial assistance to the husband while he was finishing school. The wife now stays home taking care of the parties’ four minor children. Both parties are in good health. The husband has established a very successful medical practice. By working long hours as a surgeon, he had earned $404,000 in the year which preceded this dissolution action. Under these circumstances, the liberal provisions for permanent periodic alimony and child support were justified.

In ordering the lump sum alimony, the court was apparently seeking to equitably divide the parties’ assets into shares of approximately equal value. Since none of these assets were acquired outside of the marital relationship, such a procedure is permissible under the rationale of Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1980). See Rosen v. Rosen, 386 So. 2d 1268 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). The wife’s investigative auditor expressed his opinion that the parties’ net worth was $953,157. Certain discrepancies in this testimony suggest that the valuation was too high.1 However, the trial judge seemed to take this into consideration when he found that the net worth of the parties was “in excess of $800,000,” and by ordering a division of assets in line with the latter figure. Therefore, we cannot say that the court abused its discretion in making the lump sum alimony awards.

There is one additional point to be considered. After the final judgment, the court held the husband in contempt for failure to make certain payments. Included among these arrearages was $584 in temporary support which the husband had failed to pay before the entry of the final judgment. This was a matter which should have been brought up at the final hearing. Because the final judgment makes no reference to this matter, the wife cannot now seek to enforce compliance with the temporary order. See Duss v. Duss, 92 Fla. 1081, 111 So. 382 (1926); Rankin v. Rankin, 275 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). Cf. Keller v. Keller, 302 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), in which as part of the final judgment the court reduced to judgment the arrearages from prior orders for temporary relief.

We affirm the judgment of dissolution. Except as set forth above, the order of contempt is also affirmed.

BOARDMAN, A.C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur. . For example:

(1) Inclusion of $152,346 of accounts receivable without making any reduction for bad debts when the evidence showed that the husband never collects at least one third of his accounts.

(2) Making no allowance for the income tax liability applicable to such portion of the accounts receivable as would be collected.

(3) Ignoring the income tax liability on monies collected in the past year. (4) Treating the husband’s unvested profit sharing and pension plan as worth its face value despite the fact that the money can only be obtained, without adverse tax consequences, by waiting until retirement.

(5) Considering an $80,000 irrevocable ten year Clifford trust established for the children at its face value rather than at its present value even though the principal will not revert to the husband until the trust terminates.

(6) Estimating the value of a power boat simply by adding all of the prior payments made on the boat, including interest, to the amount which remained owing on the boat.


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