MICHAEL E. SALYERS, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
MARTHA A. GOOD, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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The appellate court reviewed a postdissolution action where the husband appealed the denial of his attorney's fees and the wife cross-appealed the dismissal of her partition complaint for the marital home.
The court reversed the dismissal of the wife's partition complaint, finding that the settlement agreement did not grant the husband an indefinite right to possess the property and that the wife could seek partition.
[1] A property settlement agreement incorporated into a dissolution judgment may grant one spouse exclusive use and possession of the marital home until sale, but does not ne…
[2] A spouse's right to partition marital property held as tenants in common is not automatically extinguished by the other spouse's right to possession, particularly when th…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFollowing dissolution, the wife filed a complaint for partition of the marital home, which the husband occupied exclusively until its sale per a settl…
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GRIMES, Judge.
In this postdissolution action, the husband appeals the denial of his motion for attorney’s fees, and the wife cross-appeals the order dismissing her complaint for partition.
Paragraph 7 of the parties’ property settlement agreement which was incorporated into the dissolution judgment of April 23, 1982, provided in part as follows:
[T]he Husband shall have the exclusive use and possession of the property [marital home] until such time as the same is sold. Upon the sale of the property, the Wife shall be entitled to forty percent (40%) of the net equity realized from the sale thereof less the following proceeds attributable to the contributions by the Husband during his tenancy therein:....
The balance of the paragraph spelled out the percentage of reimbursement to which the husband would be entitled for mortgage payments and other expenditures.
On March 10, 1983, the wife filed a complaint for partition of the marital home. The husband moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action and requested reasonable attorney’s fees pursuant to section 57.105, Florida Statutes (1981). The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice “for the reason that the wife is not entitled to immediate possession of the subject real property and therefore will be unable to amend her complaint for partition to state a cause of action.” The court denied the husband’s motion for attorney’s fees.
The argument pertaining to attorney’s fees centers on whether the complaint was frivolous. Because we have determined to sustain the wife’s position on cross-appeal, further discussion of this point would be superfluous.
The husband argues alternative positions to support the dismissal of the complaint for partition. First, he relies upon the supreme court’s decision in Tresher v. McElroy, 90 Fla. 372, 106 So. 79 (1925), for the proposition that without unity of possession, there can be no tenancy in common. Tresher was decided in another context and is not controlling. The marital home in the instant case was formerly owned by the parties as tenants by the entirety. Under the provisions of section 689.15, Florida Statutes (1981), when their marriage was dissolved, the parties became tenants in common.
The husband further argues that even if they are tenants in common, the wife has no right of partition at this time because her interest is burdened by the husband’s right of possession. Where one spouse has been awarded possession of the marital home as an incident of the other spouse’s obligation to support, the nonpos-sessing spouse cannot obtain partition until the other’s right to possession has terminated. Black v. Miller, 219 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 225 So. 2d 920 (Fla.1969); Pollack v. Pollack, 159 Fla. 224, 31 So. 2d 253 (1947). The question here, however, is whether the settlement agreement as incorporated into the dissolution judgment gave the husband a continuing right of possession for as long as he wished.
We find this court’s previous decision in Hoemke v. Hoemke, 342 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977), analogous. In that case, a final judgment of dissolution ordered the husband to pay child support and awarded the wife possession of the marital home “until such time as the same is sold.” The husband later conveyed to his parents his undivided one-half interest in the home. Twelve and one half months after the date of the dissolution judgment, the parents filed a complaint for partition. On the wife’s appeal from a judgment of partition, she contended that she was entitled to remain in possession of the home until the children reached majority, died, married or became self-supporting. In rejecting this argument and affirming partition, we said that “it is clear to us from a reading of the provisions of the final judgment set out above that the trial court intended to award possession of the premises to appellant only ‘until such time as the same is sold.’ ” Id. at 128.
We interpret paragraph 7 of the settlement agreement as contemplating that following the dissolution the parties would endeavor to sell the home at a mutually advantageous price and that during the interim the husband was entitled to possession. Upon the failure to effect an agreeable sale within a reasonable time, either party had a right to force a sale through partition. When the property is sold, the husband’s right to possession will terminate. We do not read the agreement as giving the husband the right to live in the home for the balance of his life by unilaterally refusing to sell. The ten and one half month period between the entry of the dissolution judgment and the date on which the complaint was filed constituted a reasonable period of time for the parties to try to sell the property.
Our view of the complaint makes it obvious that the wife’s position was not frivolous. Thus, the court properly denied the husband’s motion for attorney’s fees. We reverse the order dismissing the complaint and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
OTT, C.J., and BOARDMAN, J., concur.
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Cone v. Cone, 449 So. 2d 867 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)…of the property. AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part. DAUKSCH and FRANK D. UP-CHURCH, Jr., JJ., concur. . See Coalla v. Coalla, 330 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). See also Baldi v. Baldi, 323 So. 2d 592 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). . See Salyers v. Good, 443 So. 2d 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983).…
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Taylor v. Taylor, 653 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)…So. 2d 1119, 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), our ruling is without prejudice to either party seeking, by appropriate petition, the trial court’s interpretation of the meaning of a provision in the marital settlement agreement. See, e.g., Salyers v. Good, 443 So. 2d 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Maclaren v. Maclaren, 616 So. 2d 104 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). AFFIRMED as MODIFIED. WEBSTER, MICKLE and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur.…
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Phillips v. Lovella Phillips, 83 So. 3d 903 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)…marital home — the factor limiting the Former Husband’s right to seek partition— will necessarily terminate. At that time, the parties may either reach an agreement to sell the property or may force the sale through a partition. See Salyers v. Good, 443 So. 2d 152, 154 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983) (“Upon the failure to effect an agreeable sale within a reasonable time, either party had a right to force a sale through partition.”). [*905] Because the final judgment sets an end date for the Former Wife’s exclusive use an…
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
- Solomon Pollack v. Pollack, 159 Fla. 224 (Fla. 1947)
- Black v. Elliot L. Miller, 219 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)
- Tresher v. McElroy, 90 Fla. 372 (Fla. 1925)
- Degennaro v. Miller Trailers, Inc., 225 So. 2d 920 (Fla. 1969)
- Sharps v. Sharps, 225 So. 2d 920 (Fla. 1969)
- Hoemke v. Herbert Hoemke et ux., 342 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)