LARRY PELTON, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
SHARON D. PELTON, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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In this family law appeal, the Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's modification of child support and attorney's fees award, holding that the court misapplied the child support guidelines statute and incorrectly included alimony in calculating the former wife's income. The court remanded for recalculation under the correct statutory version and for reconsideration of the effective date and attorney's fees based on corrected financial figures.
The court held that: (1) the 1991 amended child support guidelines apply to pending proceedings, and the trial court erred in using the 1989 version; (2) the payor spouse's alimony obligation is not a deductible item, and no abuse of discretion occurred in denying the deduction; (3) alimony from the current marriage does not qualify as 'spousal support from a previous marriage' under the statute; (4) attorney's fees must be reconsidered based on corrected income calculations; and (5) the trial court has discretion to apply retroactive child support modification if increased need was alleged, regardless of whether retroactivity was expressly requested.
[1] The version of the child support statute in effect at the time of pending proceedings, rather than the version in effect at the time of the original judgment, applies to…
[2] Alimony received from a former spouse is not considered spousal support received from a previous marriage for the purpose of calculating gross income for child support.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We hold that the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in relying on the 1989 version of the child support guidelines.”
Establishes that the 1991 amended guidelines apply to pending proceedings under the remedial statute principle.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties were divorced under a final judgment in 1989. In 1991, the former wife moved to modify child support, claiming increased need. The trial c…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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SHIVERS, Judge.
The former Husband appealed the trial court’s orders granting the former Wife’s motions 1) for a modification of the final judgment of dissolution of marriage to increase child support and 2) for an award of attorney’s fees. The former Wife cross-appealed the order pursuant to which the lower tribunal struck the nunc pro tunc provision of the upward modification of child support, which change effected the increase of support as of the date of the 1991 modification order, rather than the date of the 1989 dissolution decree. Our careful review of the pertinent statutes and cases persuades us that the trial court based its decision regarding child support on a misperception of which version of the statute applies.
We reverse that portion of the order increasing child support, and remand for a recalculation of the parties’ net incomes pursuant to section 61.30, Florida Statutes (1991) (child support guidelines).
See Reed v. Reed, 597 So. 2d 936, 937 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Fogg v. Southeast Bank, N.A., 473 So. 2d 1352, 1353 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
We also reverse that part of the order including in the former Wife’s income the alimony award from the former Husband as spousal support received “from a previous marriage” pursuant to section 61.-30(2)(a)(9), Florida Statutes (1991).
The award of attorney’s fees must be reversed as well, so that the trial court can reconsider the parties’ relative needs and ability to pay and make a determination in light of the necessary recalculations. See Keister v. Keister, 458 So. 2d 32, 36 (4th DCA 1984), pet. for rev. den., 466 So. 2d 217 (Fla.1985).
As to the former Wife’s cross-appeal, we remand for a determination of the effective date of the modification of child support in accordance with the discretion invested in the trial court pursuant to McArthur v. McArthur, 106 So. 2d 73, 76 (Fla.1958); Barrs v. Barrs, 590 So. 2d 980, 981 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).
On the first issue, child support, the trial court found the parties’ combined incomes exceeded $50,000 per year. Accordingly, pursuant to the version of section 61.30 used by the trial court, the child support guidelines were deemed inapplicable. See section 61.30(l)(b)2, Florida Statutes (1989). The court determined that $1,580, or $790 per month for each of the two minor children, was a reasonable amount. That award constituted an increase of $500 per month, or $250 per child, from the original support award. We hold that the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in relying on the 1989 version of the child support guidelines.
Although the order of modification was filed prior to October 1, 1991, the effective date of the 1991 amendments of the statutory child support guidelines, see 1991 Laws of Florida, ch. 91-246, the proceedings were pending when the new law took effect. Reed, 597 So. 2d at 937. Decisions on Appellant’s motion for reconsideration and Appellee’s motion for rehearing were rendered in January 1992. See Fla. R.App.P. 9.020(g). We find the case sub judice is controlled by our decision in Reed, where we determined the remedial nature of section 61.30 made it applicable to pending proceedings. We note that the honorable trial judge did not have the benefit of Reed when the award of child support was increased.
The $7,119.41 per month determined to be the parties’ combined available income placed them below the $100,800 per year ceiling established in the applicable statute. See section 61.30(l)(b)2, Florida Statutes (1991). In its calculations, the trial court included the $800 per month permanent alimony award in the former Wife’s income and did not deduct the $800 from the former Husband’s income, there by raising the second issue. Appellant alleged the failure to allow him the deduction was erroneous because it resulted in the “double inclusion” of the alimony amount in the income available for child support. We believe that the former Husband has misconstrued the statute.
Section 61.30(3)(a)-(f), Florida Statutes (1991), sets forth allowable deductions from gross income. The payor spouse’s alimony obligation is not included in this list. The former Husband argued that the list of allowable deductions is not exclusive, and that the trial court’s failure to allow him to deduct the amount paid in alimony brought about a result not intended by the legislature. In Harrison v. Harrison, 573 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), we held that the trial court had erred in permitting the husband to deduct the amount of his disability and dental practice overhead insurance pri-or to the determination of appropriate child support. In Harrison, as in the case at bar, the item for which deduction was sought was not among the statutory deductions in section 61.30(3).
We note, however, that the trial court has discretion, pursuant to section 61.30(10)(c), to adjust the minimum child support award, or the parental shares thereof, based on the payment of “spousal support to the obligee.” Additionally, section 61.30(10)(i) permits an adjustment of the parental share of child support based on “[a]ny other adjustment which is needed to achieve an equitable result.” We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s not permitting the former Husband to deduct alimony.
The third issue is closely related to the second.
Section 61.30(2)(a)9, Florida Statutes (1991), includes in gross income “[sjpousal support received from a previous marriage.” Appellant contends the former Wife was required to include the amount of alimony in her income because, at the time of the post-dissolution modification proceedings, the $800 amount constituted support received from their previous marriage. We interpret the disputed language differently, as referring to a marriage previous to the one the dissolution of which is the subject of the modification proceedings. The former Husband has not provided any decisional law supporting his and the trial court’s interpretation of section 61.30(2)(a)(9).
We hold that the trial court erred, as a matter of law, by including the alimony award in the computation of the former Wife’s gross income pursuant to section 61.30(2)(a)(9). On remand, the trial court is directed to determine each parent's percentage share of the child support need in accordance with the formula set forth in section 61.30(8) & (9), Florida Statutes (1991).
The fourth issue involves attorney’s fees and taxation of costs. At the original final hearing in this matter, the former Husband introduced the former Wife’s petition for voluntary bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Act. The petition lists counsel for the former Wife as a creditor whose debt was to be discharged by the bankruptcy. At a subsequent hearing on pending motions, including the motion on attorney’s fees and taxation of costs, the former Wife introduced a reaffirmation agreement wherein she reaffirmed the debt to her attorney for the services originally rendered in the final judgment of dissolution proceedings as well as in the appellate proceedings. Under the facts in the record, we hold that the filing of the bankruptcy petition and entry of an automatic stay did not discharge these particular debts. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 362, 523 & 524 (1991); Pennsylvania Dep't of Pub. Welfare v. Davenport, 495 U.S. 552, 110 S.Ct. 2126, 109 L.Ed.2d 588 (1990); In re Silansky, 897 F. 2d 743 (4th Cir.1990); Siegel v. Smith, 65 B.R. 668 (Bankr.W.D.N.Y.1986).
The trial court found the former Husband’s “superior financial condition” justified the granting of the former Wife’s petition to tax costs and attorney’s fees.
In light of the need to recalculate the figures determining an appropriate child support award, the trial court is directed to reevaluate the parties’ relative financial resources for purposes of resolving the issue of a reasonable attorney’s fee and costs. Peacon v. Peacon, 578 So. 2d 781, 783 (3d DCA), rev. den., 589 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1991); Keister. Their financial positions are to be determined after the awards have been made and incomes transferred from the payor spouse to the receiving spouse. See Martinez v. Martinez, 573 So. 2d 37, 46-47 (1st DCA 1990), rev. den., 581 So. 2d 1309 (Fla.1991); Benekos v. Benekos, 557 So. 2d 942, 943 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (wife’s award of attorney’s fees constituted an abuse of discretion, considering her earnings, child support and alimony, as well as her having received the greater share of marital assets).
Thus, prior to a determination of relative financial conditions on the issue of attorney’s fees and costs, the amounts paid out by the former Husband for alimony and child support are to be subtracted from his income, and the amount of alimony received is to be added to the former Wife’s income.
The trial court also must subtract the former Wife’s share of the child support duty to determine her income.
The fifth and final issue involves the trial court’s determination that the award of increased child support had been improperly entered, to the extent that the award was made nunc pro tunc to April 3, 1989, the date of the final judgment of dissolution. As a result of the order on the former Husband’s motion for reconsideration, the trial court effected the upward modification of child support as of the date of the modification order in September 1991.
The former Wife asserted that a retroactive award of the increase in child support was justified because the increased need as of the date of filing the motion was alleged in the request for modification. The former Husband contended Appellee waived the right to retroactive application of the upward modification of child support because she failed to make a specific request for retroactivity in the petition. We agree with the former Wife that no express request for retroactivity was required under these circumstances, so long as the increased need, as of the earlier date, was alleged. See Bloom v. Bloom, 503 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); Keel v. Keel, 597 So. 2d 433 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Friedman v. Friedman, 307 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975).
Apparently, the trial court rescinded its retroactive application of the modified child support award, based on the belief either that it was required to do so or that the former Wife’s motion for modification contained no request for retroactive payments. In fact, the trial court has discretion over whether to order child support payments to be paid retroactively from the filing date of the petition for modification. McArthur; Barrs.
REVERSED and REMANDED, with directions.
BOOTH and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
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Rovena L'Tanya R. Nelson v. Miles Vernard Nelson, 651 So. 2d 1252 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)…t also has the discretion to make any other adjustment “needed to achieve an equitable result.” § 61.30(ll)(k), Fla.Stat. (1993). Thus, no abuse of discretion is shown in the trial court allowing the husband to make this deduction. Pelton v. Pelton, 617 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). The wife next argues the trial court incorrectly adjusted the husband’s gross income based upon purely speculative events (i.e. future events), instead of basing it on circumstances existing at the time of the final hearing. Th…
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Pitts v. Richmond B. Pitts, 626 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…e judge ordered the support recomputed, based on the husband’s unemployment income. The decision whether to make a child support award retroactive to the date of filing the petition is a matter within the trial court’s discretion. Pelton v. Pelton, 617 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Anderson v. Anderson, 609 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Barrs v. Barrs, 590 So. 2d 980 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). Nevertheless, “[i]t is an abuse of discretion, ... to fail to award support from the date of the petition for modificat…
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Galligar v. Terrie Galligar, 77 So. 3d 808 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…6 So. 3d 801, 804 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (citing § 61.16(1), Fla. Stat. (2008)). The trial court should take into account any alimony awarded on remand, in determining the financial positions of the parties for fee award purposes. See Pelton v. Pelton, 617 So. 2d 714, 717 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992).…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (15 total)
- Pa. Dep't of Pub. Welf. v. Davenport et ux., 495 U.S. 552 (U.S. 1990)
- Martinez v. Martinez, 573 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- McARTHUR v. McARTHUR, 106 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 1958)
- E.C. Fogg, III v. Se. Bank, N.A., 473 So. 2d 1352 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
- Monteze Barrs v. Barrs, 590 So. 2d 980 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Friedman v. Laurence Friedman, 307 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- Weddie Dale v. Landrum Temp. Servs. Inc., 458 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Yola Harrison v. Harrison, 573 So. 2d 1018 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Reed v. Reed, 597 So. 2d 936 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Schwinder v. Wilson, 503 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)