ALAN SOBELMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
GOLDIE SOBELMAN, APPELLEE
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Alan Sobelman appeals an amended final judgment requiring him to maintain a $200,000 life insurance policy with his ex-wife as beneficiary as security for permanent periodic alimony. The court reversed, holding that while life insurance may be ordered as security for alimony arrearages, the requesting party must establish the need for such security and the policy must be limited to protect only arrearages, not serve as post-mortem alimony.
While a court may order a spouse to maintain life insurance as security for permanent periodic alimony arrearages, the requesting party must first establish the need for such security, and the policy's terms must be limited so that it serves only to protect arrearages rather than provide post-mortem alimony. Because the wife did not establish the need for security and the required policy was unrestricted, the insurance provision was improper.
[1] A court may require a spouse to maintain a life insurance policy to secure payment of permanent periodic alimony arrearages.
[2] The party requesting a life insurance policy to secure alimony payments must establish the need for such security.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the court can order a spouse to maintain a life insurance policy which secures the payment of any arrear-age in the payment of permanent periodic alimony that might be due at the time of the payor spouse's death”
Establishes the holding that life insurance may secure alimony arrearages, not just lump sum alimony
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn the original divorce judgment, the husband was ordered to pay permanent periodic alimony of $1,250 per month and maintain a $200,000 life insurance…
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SCHOONOVER, Acting Chief Judge.
The appellant, Alan Sobelman, appeals an amended final judgment entered by the trial court after we remanded this matter to it with instructions in Sobelman v. Sobelman, 490 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (Sobelman I). We find that under the facts of this case, the court erred in requiring the husband to maintain a $200,000 life insurance policy with the wife as beneficiary as security for the payment of permanent periodic alimony. We, accordingly, reverse and remand with instructions to strike the life insurance provision in the amended judgment.
In the original final judgment, the husband was ordered to pay his wife, Goldie Sobelman, permanent periodic alimony in the sum of $1250 per month. The wife was awarded the contents of the marital home as lump sum alimony. The husband was also required to maintain a life insurance policy in the amount of $200,000 with the wife as beneficiary.
On appeal of the initial final judgment, this court was unable to determine if the policy was in existence at the time of the divorce hearing, if the provision concerning insurance was intended in itself to be lump sum alimony, or if it was intended as security for other alimony awarded to the wife. We, accordingly, remanded the matter to the trial court with directions to: “strike the life insurance aspect of the final judgment or to amend the judgment so that the life insurance award is proper under either the statutory provision or the pertinent decisional law.” So-belman I.
Upon remand, the trial court amended the life insurance provision in the final judgment to read: “As security for permanent, periodic alimony, the Husband shall maintain life insurance in the face amount of Two Hundred Thousand ($200,000.00) Dollars with the Wife as beneficiary.” The husband filed a timely notice of appeal.
At oral arguments on this appeal, we were informed that the policy had never been purchased.
The trial court, therefore, obviously could not have considered the policy a marital asset and distributed it as lump sum alimony with the requirement that the husband make the premium payments as permanent periodic alimony. See Stith v. Stith, 384 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). In reversing the trial court’s life insurance provision in the amended judgment, we are not holding that life insurance may never be required as security for the payment of permanent periodic alimony.
We agree with our sister court that there is no reason to limit the provisions of section 61.08(3), Florida Statutes (1985), to securing the payment of lump sum alimony. See Gepfrich v. Gepfrich, 510 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). The statute itself does not contain such a limitation. We, accordingly, hold that the court can order a spouse to maintain a life insurance policy which secures the payment of any arrear-age in the payment of permanent periodic alimony that might be due at the time of the payor spouse’s death. Dwyer v. Dwyer, 513 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). The party requesting such a policy, however, must first establish the need for such security. Dwyer.
Furthermore, although the court can order a spouse to maintain such a policy, the terms and conditions of the policy should be limited in such a manner that the receiving spouse will receive only what may reasonably be necessary to protect arrearages in alimony so that the actual effect of the insurance requirement is not to provide post mortem alimony. Sobelman I. The wife in this case did not establish the need for security for payment of permanent periodic alimony.
Additionally, the required policy is not restricted so that it serves only as security for the award of permanent periodic alimony. If the provision were allowed to stand, the wife would be in a position to receive the face amount of the policy without regard to whether any of the alimony payments were in arrears at the time of the husband’s death, and it is doubtful that the wife, or the court, would allow the husband to become $200,000 in arrears on his alimony payments if he had the ability to make the premium payments on such a policy.
We, accordingly, remand to the trial court with directions to strike the provision requiring the husband to maintain a $200,-000 life insurance policy as security for the payment of permanent periodic alimony. Reversed and remanded.
HALL and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Goldie Sobelman v. Sobelman, 541 So. 2d 1153 (Fla. 1989)…KOGAN, Justice. We have for review an opinion of the Second District Court of Appeal in Sobelman v. Sobelman, 516 So. 2d 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), which is in express and direct conflict with Fiveash v. Fiveash, 523 So. 2d 764 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) and Clark v. Clark, 509 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. After twenty-two ye…
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Moore v. Moore, 543 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)…the trial court shall limit Carol’s beneficial interest in the policy to an amount reasonably required to protect against arrearage, and the trial court shall consider whether security is necessary under the circumstances. See Sobelman v. Sobelman, 516 So. 2d 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Accordingly, we affirm the dissolution judgment as to its award of permanent alimony, but reverse and remand the equitable distribution of marital assets for reconsideration within the parameters of this opinion. We also direct…
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Longo v. Longo, 533 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)…09 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), and the result in Benson v. Benson, 503 So. 2d 384 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), are consistent with Fiveash v. Fiveash, 523 So. 2d 764 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988), which I would adopt. We should certify a conflict with Sobelman II, 516 So. 2d 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), and recognize that the statute now gives a trial court the discretion to provide a former spouse with security against the tragic consequences of a premature termination of income, provided that there is a finding of necessity an…1 / 2
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Stith v. Stith, 384 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980)
- Dwyer v. Dwyer, 513 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
- Sobelman v. Goldie Sobelman, 490 So. 2d 225 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
- Gepfrich v. Gepfrich, 510 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)