DARRELL G. STEELE, JUNE MARIE STEELE, AND OWEN THOMAS STEELE, APPELLANTS,
v.
ELIZABETH ANN STEELE, APPELLEE
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In this Florida divorce case, the appellate court affirmed the trial court's imposition of a constructive trust on the marital home in favor of the wife and the imputation of income to the husband, but reversed and remanded regarding the amount of child support awarded and the award of attorney's fees, which lacked proper hearing procedures.
The court affirmed the constructive trust and income imputation. However, the court reversed the attorney's fees award for lack of proper hearing and held that the husband's parents could not be held liable for attorney's fees in a constructive trust and partition case. The court also reversed the child support award and remanded for recalculation, finding that under section 61.30, the proper amount should be approximately $101.39 per week rather than $125.00 per week.
[1] A constructive trust may be imposed on a marital home in favor of a spouse in a dissolution proceeding.
[2] A spouse's renunciation of interest in a marital home can result in the award of that interest to the other spouse.
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“Given that the parties, Husband's parents and Husband and Wife, constructively held the home as equal partners, we believe that the written judgment's award of one-half of the interest in the home to Wife was proper.”
Establishes that the constructive trust imposing a one-half interest in the marital home was proper because all parties held it as equal partners.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe husband and wife were parties to a dissolution of marriage proceeding. The marital home was held by the husband, his parents, and the wife. The tr…
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CAMPBELL, Acting Chief Judge.
Appellants, Darrell G. Steele and June Marie Steele (Husband’s parents), third party defendants below, and Owen Thomas Steele (Husband), respondent below, challenge the final judgment dissolving the marriage of Husband and appellee, Elizabeth Ann Steele (Wife), petitioner below, imposing a constructive trust on the marital home in favor of Wife, assessing attorney’s fees against Husband and Husband’s parents, imputing income to Husband and ordering Husband to pay $125.00 per week in child support. We affirm the imposition of the constructive trust and the imputation of income to Husband, but reverse and remand for correction of the amount of child support and for a hearing on the award of attorney’s fees.
Although we find that the record supports the imposition of a constructive trust on the marital home under Abreau v. Amaro, 534 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988), we are concerned that the written judgment grants Wife a one-half interest in the home, while the oral pronouncement grants Wife only a one-fourth interest. We would affirm the written judgment on the basis that Husband renunciated any interest he had in the home. Since the marital home was determined to be a marital asset, Husband’s interest upon his renunciation of his rights thereto was properly awarded to Wife. Given that the parties, Husband’s parents and Husband and Wife, construe- tively held the home as equal partners, we believe that the written judgment’s award of one-half of the interest in the home to Wife was proper. There would be no reason to limit her interest to one-fourth.
As conceded by Wife, the court failed to hold a hearing on attorney’s fees as required by Florida Patients’ Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla.1985). We reverse and remand the award of attorney’s fees to Wife for a hearing under Rowe.
In addition, we are unable to locate any statute or case specifically allowing attorney’s fees to be awarded in a constructive trust and partition case and, therefore, direct that in the subsequent proceedings, Husband’s parents are not to be held liable for any of Wife’s fees although, upon proper findings, Husband could be ordered to pay such fees that grow out of the dissolution proceedings.
Finally, the court erred in ordering Husband to pay $125.00 per week in child support. Wife’s total net monthly income was listed in her financial affidavit at $803.85 per month and Husband’s imputed income was $2,000.00 per month, for a combined total of $2,803.85 per month.
Under section 61.30, Florida Statutes (1991), this amount calls for a total child support need of $589.00 per month, or $7,068.00 per year, or $136.00 per week. Husband was ordered to pay $125.00 per week. Wife’s percentage portion is twenty-eight percent, or $38.08 per week, and Husband’s portion is seventy-one percent, or $96.56 per week. Even allowing for the five percent bump allowed by the guidelines, Husband's child support should only have been $101.39 per week. Further, if Husband is required to pay the health insurance premium, he is entitled to a credit for that amount against his gross income.
Section 61.30(3)(e). We, therefore, direct upon remand that the trial judge reevaluate the needs for child support and provisions for payment thereof according to the instructions of this opinion. Any parties aggrieved by further orders of the court entered after remand may appeal anew those orders.
SCHOONOVER and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
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Pitts v. Richmond B. Pitts, 626 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…mount, as required by section 61.30, Florida Statutes. Walsh v. Walsh, 600 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Touchstone v. Touchstone, 579 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Martin v. Martin, 616 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). See also Steele v. Steele, 617 So. 2d 736 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). Section 61.30(l)(a), Florida Statutes, provides: The child support guideline amount as determined by this section presumptively establishes the amount the trier of fact shall order as child support in an initial proceeding for s…
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McCANTS v. McCANTS, 984 So. 2d 678 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)…pport, the trial court again determines that the Wife has the need and the Husband has the ability to pay for attorney’s fees, the trial court shall conduct a hearing to determine the amount and reasonableness of the fee award. See Steele v. Steele, 617 So. 2d 736, 738 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Sullivan v. Sullivan, 677 So. 2d 986, 987 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). Conclusion Accordingly, we affirm the dissolution of marriage and the grant of shared parental responsibility of the remaining minor child, Jaron, with the Wif…
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Sullivan v. Ransom L. Sullivan, 677 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…e, because there was no evidence to support it, the portion of the judgment awarding the former wife attorney’s fees is reversed. We remand for a hearing on the amount and reasonableness of the fees incurred by the former wife. See Steele v. Steele, 617 So. 2d 736 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. denied, 626 So. 2d 208 (Fla.1993); Markham v. Markham, 485 So. 2d 1299 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986). JUDGMENT AFFIRMED; REVERSED and REMANDED for attorney’s fees hearing. HARRIS and ANTOON, JJ., concur.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fla. Patient's Comp. Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985)
- Luisa Devers Abreu v. Prospero Amaro and Josefa Amaro, 534 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)