TAFFY GOULD MCCALLUM, APPELLANT,
v.
HUGH H. MCCALLUM, JR., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1991-04-02
No. 89-503
Before NESBITT, BASKIN and COPE, JJ.
577 So. 2d 667 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1991) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

In a divorce case, the wife challenged a property settlement agreement on grounds of coercion and claimed the trial court improperly modified the cash distribution provisions. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's rejection of the coercion claim and its implementation of the settlement agreement.


Holding

The trial court properly implemented the settlement agreement by distributing the remaining cash assets equally, which was contemplated by the agreement's own terms allowing for adjustments. The wife failed to prove coercion or any other unconscionable means of procuring the agreement, and the trial court correctly rejected her claims.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by distributing remaining cash assets equally when a party's actions have made strict adherence to a property settlement agree…

[2] A party's actions that materially contribute to the inability to distribute assets as originally set forth in a settlement agreement do not provide grounds to set aside t…

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Key Quotes

“A court may set aside or modify a property agreement upon proof that it was reached by means of fraud, deceit, duress, coercion, misrepresentation, or overreaching.”

Establishes the legal standard for challenging settlement agreements in divorce cases.

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Facts & Procedural History

The husband sought an uncontested divorce based on a property settlement agreement. The wife claimed the agreement was procured through coercion. The …

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Opinion of the Court
NESBITT, Judge.

NESBITT, Judge.

In this action, the husband sought an uncontested divorce and asserted the existence of a property settlement agreement. The wife attacked the agreement claiming coercion. The trial court rejected the wife’s coercion claim, adopted the agreement and ordered its implementation. The wife now appeals.

First, Mrs. McCallum claims that while the trial court stated it was implementing the parties’ property agreement, it, in fact, improperly modified a segment of the agreement dealing with the cash distribution of assets. See Bockoven v. Bockoven, 444 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). The wife bases this claim on the trial judge’s finding that the agreement was “not facially unreasonable except as to the cash distribution....” She claims this statement proves that the trial judge found the equities of the situation required redistribution of that asset in a manner other than that contemplated in the settlement agreement.

We disagree with this analysis of the facts and find that the trial judge simply— and correctly — implemented the parties’ agreement as best the circumstances permitted. His finding merely recognized that he could not distribute the $125,777 which the settlement agreement provided for when only $28,000 remained on hand at the time the order was entered. The finding is clearly not evidence of an attempt on the judge’s part to modify the agreement. See Bockoven, 444 So. 2d at 30.

The terms of the property settlement agreement itself provided that the court might have to make adjustments in the final distribution of cash. The settlement provided for the wife to receive $50,-970 in cash and the husband to receive $74,730 in cash. The trial judge found that, preceding final judgment, the wife had taken the sum of $73,000 and the husband had taken $45,000. A review of the record shows that the trial court’s distribution of the cash asset left the wife with more money than she would have otherwise received according to the agreement’s original terms. In fact, the record shows that during the pendency of the suit, the wife, in direct violation of a court order, cashed a $25,000 certificate of deposit which was part of the money to be distributed under the agreement. By her actions, she materially contributed to the trial court’s inability to distribute the asset as originally set forth in the agreement.

Under these circumstances and considering that numerous months of debits and credits affecting the amount of cash assets had transpired between the agreement’s inception and its adoption by the trial court, we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the implementation of the settlement agreement required the equal distribution of the remaining money in the certificates of deposit.

Second, we address the wife’s claim that the husband employed coercive tactics which require this court to set aside the settlement agreement. A court may set aside or modify a property agreement upon proof that it was reached by means of fraud, deceit, duress, coercion, misrepresentation, or overreaching. Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla.1987). In the instant case, the trial court specifically found the wife had not carried her burden of proving any of these elements in connection with the negotiation and execution of the agreement; we agree with its determination.

By her own admission, the wife had typed and signed the agreement following four weeks of talks and drafting, during which time she was free to consult with friends, relatives, or legal advisors. See Cronacher v. Cronacher, 508 So. 2d 1270 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); O’Connor v. O’Connor, 435 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Furthermore, the wife was a college-educated working woman who had been married three times before. Her estimation of the value of the couple’s assets appears to be totally on target except as to the value of certain real property which was, in fact, hers prior to the marriage. In the instant case the facts clearly refute any claim of inadequate knowledge of the value of the marital property. See Casto, 508 So. 2d at 333 (in addition to duress, second ground to vacate settlement agreement is concealment by defending spouse or lack of knowledge by challenging spouse).

Accordingly, the decision of the trial court is affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Farrell v. Layda Tunon Farrell, 661 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
    …le. The trial court additionally found that the former husband had not met his burden of proving his claim that the settlement agreement was reached by means of duress so as to require the court to set the agreement aside. See McCallum v. McCallum, 577 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 587 So. 2d 1328 (Fla.1991); Morris v. Morris, 481 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986). We find that the record fully supports the court’s determination on this point and the court did not err in declining to set aside the agre…
  • Campbell v. Campbell, 615 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
    …support provisions, are not subject to court-ordered modification. Draper v. Draper, 604 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Kinne v. Kinne, 599 So. 2d 191 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Agerskov v. Gabriel, 596 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); McCallum v. McCallum, 577 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); O’Hara v. O’Hara, 564 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Kuhnke v. Kuhnke, 556 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Fahs v. Fahs, 517 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Flanders v. Flanders, 516 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Stevens v. S…
  • Hernandez v. Hernandez, 590 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla.1987); see McCallum v. McCallum, 577 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991).…

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