SONJA J. CARNES, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM J. REVELS, JR., APPELLEE
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Wife's appeal of child support award of $780 per month was partially successful; the trial court did not abuse its discretion in setting that amount, but erred in requiring $350 monthly to be placed in trust, which would leave insufficient funds for the child's needs.
A trial court abuses its discretion when it orders a portion of child support to be deposited in trust if that diversion leaves the custodial parent with insufficient funds to meet the child's established monthly support needs.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion in ordering a portion of child support to be placed in trust if the diversion leaves the custodial parent unable to meet the child's e…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the diversion of this sum would clearly leave the appellant with insufficient funds to meet the child's established monthly support needs”
Court's explanation for why the trust requirement constituted an abuse of discretion
In a dissolution proceeding, the trial court awarded the wife $780 per month in child support but ordered that $350 of this amount be deposited monthl…
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ORFINGER, Judge.
The wife appeals a final judgment of dissolution, contending that the trial court’s award of $780 per month in child support is insufficient, and that the court further erred in ordering that $350 of this award be set aside in trust. Because reasonable men could differ as to the sufficiency of the award of $780 per month as child support, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion. Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1980). The trial court did, however, abuse its discretion in ordering that $350 of the support money be deposited each month in a trust account, to be held until the child reached his majority, and not to be withdrawn except upon order of the court, because the diversion of this sum would clearly leave the appellant with insufficient funds to meet the child’s established monthly support needs. See Peak v. Peak, 411 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), approved en banc, Rook v. Rook, 469 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). We therefore modify the final judgment by striking therefrom the provision that $350 per month be deposited in the trust account, and require the entire amount of the support award be transmitted to appellant as otherwise required by the judgment. In all other respects, the final judgment is affirmed.
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.
DANIEL, J., and EVANS, V.W., Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1980)
- Peak v. Ewell A. Peak, 411 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)
- Coleen Rook v. Rook, 469 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)