JEANNIE FARKAS, APPELLANT,
v.
RICHARD FARKAS, APPELLEE
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A property settlement agreement granting a spouse exclusive occupancy of the marital home, incorporated into a final judgment, is interpreted like a contract and is not subject to modification based on remarriage unless the agreement provides for it.
[1] A property settlement agreement incorporated into a final judgment of dissolution is interpreted like any other contract, and its unambiguous terms are to be gleaned from…
[2] Property settlement agreements are upheld unless fraud, duress, deceit, coercion, or overreaching is alleged and proved.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties' property settlement agreement, incorporated into a final judgment, granted the wife exclusive occupancy of the marital home until child s…
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HERSEY, Judge.
On November 27, 1979, in contemplation of a dissolution of marriage, the parties entered into a property settlement agreement. Subsequently, in January, 1980, a final judgment was entered dissolving the marriage and ratifying and incorporating the property settlement agreement. The provisions of that agreement material to this appeal are:
Furthermore, notwithstanding the incorporation of this Agreement in any Judgment in the suit for Dissolution of Marriage now pending between the parties, or in any future suit for Dissolution of Marriage brought by either party hereto this Agreement shall not be merged in such Judgment but shall survive the same and be binding on the parties for all time. ALIMONY: The Wife hereby irrevocably waives any and all alimony from the Husband. VI CHILD SUPPORT: The Husband recognizes his obligation to the minor child of the parties for his support and in satisfaction of same, agrees to pay to the Wife the sum of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per week. Said child support of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per week shall commence upon execution of this Agreement, and continuing thereafter each and every week until the happening of one of the following events, whichever event first occurs: a. The child dies. b. The child reaches the age of eighteen (18). c. The child becomes self-supporting, and/or d. The child marries. e. The child no longer lives with the Wife and is not attending school. It is further agreed that the Wife shall have exclusive right to occupy the property from and after the date of this Agreement until such time as the Husband’s obligation for child support terminates pursuant to Paragraph VI of this Agreement. The only real property mentioned in the agreement is the marital residence.
Appellant wife remarried subsequent to the dissolution and continued living in the marital home with the minor child and her new husband. However, none of the conditions set forth in Article VI occurred.
On June 9,1981, appellee husband filed a Motion for Enforcement and Clarification of Rights Under Final Judgment of Dissolution and Property Settlement Agreement, alleging that because the wife had remarried her right to exclusive occupancy should terminate.
The issue went to hearing before a general master who determined that, as a matter of law, husband was entitled to partition of the former marital domicile upon the remarriage of the wife. The general master’s report was adopted and ratified by the trial court.
The issue we are asked to determine is whether the trial court erred in modifying the provision of the property settlement agreement which granted the wife exclusive use and occupancy of the marital home to create an exception when the former wife remarried.
[A] spouses right, as custodian of the children of the dissolved marriage, to exclusive possession of a marital home granted by a dissolution decree terminates upon that spouse’s remarriage.
Lambert v. Lambert, 403 So. 2d 484, 486 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). (Emphasis supplied.)
In the present case, exclusive possession of the marital residence was granted not by the judgment of dissolution but by a property settlement agreement between the parties which was incorporated into the final judgment. We therefore immediately distinguish the rationale in cases like Briner v. Briner, 425 So. 2d 211 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) where no contractual rights are involved. “Generally, where a property settlement agreement has been executed prior to a dissolution of marriage, purporting to resolve the property rights of the parties,” its provisions are to be interpreted in the same manner as any other contract. Sosnowitz v. Sosnowitz, 342 So. 2d 524, 525 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). Therefore, where the terms of the agreement are unambiguous, the meaning and intention of the parties is to be gleaned from the content of the instrument itself. Sosnowitz v. Sosnowitz.
Property settlement agreements that relate to alimony or to the adjustment of the property rights of the parties should be upheld unless fraud, duress, deceit, coercion or overreaching is alleged and proved. Baker v. Baker, 394 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). Where, however, the circumstances or financial ability of either party has changed since execution of an agreement to pay alimony or child support, either party may apply for modification. § 61.14, Fla.Stat. (1981). Thus, the crux of this appeal is whether the agreement pertaining to possession of the marital home involves a property right or is simply an incident of child support. We determine that while the provision at issue incidentally constitutes an element of child support, it also confers a property right. It is therefore not subject to modification because the terms of the agreement are clear and unambiguous and the enumerated contingencies that extinguish the right to possession have not occurred.
We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this determination.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
ANSTEAD and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (13 total)
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Karch v. Karch, 445 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)…927 (Fla.3d DCA 1981); Johnson v. Johnson, 403 So. 2d 1388 (Fla.2d DCA 1981). Where an agreement purports to resolve the property rights of the parties, its provisions are to be interpreted in the same manner as any other contract. Farkas v. Farkas, 426 So. 2d 1213 (Fla.4th DCA 1983). In the instant case the wife bargained away her interest in the husband’s business in return for ownership of the marital home, money for a downpayment on a new car, and payments, called alimony, of $100 a week. She did not sell…
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Langer v. Langer, 463 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…court upon a holding that: 1) property settlement agreements are not subject to modification when the agreements are incorporated into final judgments of dissolution of marriage, Karch v. Karch, 445 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Farkas v. Farkas, 426 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Horne v. Horne, 417 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), pet. for rev. denied, 429 So. 2d 6 (Fla.1983); Covin v. Covin, 403 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), and 2) appellant’s allegations in support of her motion to set aside the prope…
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Kuhnke v. Kuhnke, 556 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…fied as a property settlement agreement. Property settlement agreements should be upheld unless fraud, duress, deceit, coercion, or overreaching is alleged and proved. Underwood; Miller v. Miller, 149 Fla. 722, 7 So. 2d 9 (1942); Farkas v. Farkas, 426 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Zakoor v. Zakoor, 240 So. 2d 193 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). No such allegations were presented to the trial court. Appellant’s claim for modification relies exclusively on the changed circumstances of the parties. Although changed cir…
Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Baker v. Baker, 394 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Lambert v. Lambert, 403 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Sosnowitz v. Sosnowitz, 342 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Babette Ruth Briner v. Briner, 425 So. 2d 211 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)