SUMMER L. HERRING, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
FLORA HERRING, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court reversed a final judgment of dissolution of marriage, determining that military retirement earned and vested during the parties' first marriage is a marital asset subject to equitable distribution after their subsequent remarriage and dissolution.
Military retirement earned and vested during the parties' first marriage is a marital asset subject to equitable distribution upon dissolution of their subsequent remarriage to each other.
[1] Military retirement benefits earned and vested prior to a remarriage are nonmarital assets and not subject to equitable distribution in the dissolution of the subsequent…
[2] Alimony cannot be awarded when the issue has not been pled or tried by the parties.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties divorced, remarried each other, and then divorced again. During their first marriage, the husband earned vested military retirement benefi…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Nonmarital Assets cases and more on FLexlaw
JOANOS, Judge.
Appellant, Summer L. Hemng, Jr., appeals the final judgment of dissolution of the parties’ marriage. The issue is whether military retirement earned and vested during the parties’ first marriage is a marital asset subject to equitable distribution after the parties’ subsequent remarriage to each other is dissolved. We reverse.
The parties were married on April 16, 1960. At that time, appellant was on active duty in the United States Army. On July 29, 1974, the parties separated. On October 31, 1974, they entered into a separation agreement which provided that both parties waived alimony. The agreement made no reference to military retirement. In 1974, appellant retired from the Army, after serving more than twenty years of active duty. On February 13, 1976, the parties’ marriage was dissolved by a Florida court. The 1976 final judgment of dissolution of marriage did not refer to, or incorporate, the 1974 separation agreement executed in Maryland.
On December 20, 1980, the parties remarried. In April 1994, appellant filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. Shortly thereafter, appellee filed a counter-petition. On October 13, 1994, the parties entered into a Stipulation and Agreement which provided, among other things, that:
6. Alimony: It is understood that both parties expressly waive their right to claim any alimony or additional support from the other party.
9. Husband Military Retirement: The parties agree that the issue pertaining to the Husbandfs] military retirement shall be submitted to the Court for resolution. The trial court concluded that the 1974 marital settlement was abrogated by the parties’ remarriage in 1980. After considering the total period of time the parties were married to each other, the trial court further concluded that appellee, the former wife, was entitled to a proportionate share of appellant’s military retirement. The provisions of the final judgment of dissolution of marriage dealing with appellant’s military retirement state:
E. The Wife was married to the Husband for 14.5 years of the Husband’s 21.5 years of active duty during the first marriage, she is now entitled to 34% of his disposable retired pay from the United States Army.
9. Husband Military Retirement: The Wife shall receive as her sole and separate property 34% of the Husband’s disposable U.S. Army retirement, plus any cost of living increases proportionate thereto....
As support for his' argument that the 1974 separation agreement was not abrogated by the parties’ remarriage, appellant relies upon the rule that a final judgment of dissolution of marriage settles all matters between the spouses concerning the marriage, “and acts as a bar to any action thereafter to determine such rights and obligations.” Davis v. Dieujuste, 496 So. 2d 806, 809-810 (Fla.1986). The parties agree that the military retirement was appellant’s separate property when the parties remarried in 1980. Nevertheless, appellee urges the award to her of thirty-four percent of the military retirement should be treated as lump sum alimony and affirmed on that ground. We reject this suggestion. Appel-lee’s counter-petition contained no request for alimony, and the parties’ stipulation and agreement expressly waived alimony. Alimony cannot be awarded when the issue has not been pled or tried. Vadala v. Vadala, 556 So. 2d 438, 439 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Hines v. Hines, 494 So. 2d 297 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986).
Disposition of the issue raised in this appeal is controlled by this court’s decision in Speigner v. Speigner, 644 So. 2d 1035 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). In Speigner, the parties were married in May 1969, divorced in April 1980, and remarried in July 1981. The court reversed the portion of the final judgment effecting distribution of the husband’s profit-sharing plan, and remanded with instructions to treat as marital property only that portion of the plan accumulated during the parties’ second marriage. Although Speigner concerns a profit-sharing plan rather than military retirement, the underlying principle is the same, i.e., benefits which were earned and vested in retirement and profit-sharing plans before the marriage are nonmarital assets not subject to equitable distribution. See § 61.075(5)(b), Fla.Stat. (1993).
Accordingly, we reverse that portion of the final judgment which awards thirty-four percent of the military retirement to appellee as her separate property. In all other respects, the final judgment of dissolution of marriage is affirmed.
WOLF, J., concurs.
WEBSTER, J., concurs in result.
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
Appellee, relying upon Cox v. Cox, 659 So. 2d 1051 (Fla.1995) seeks rehearing. Ap-pellee’s reliance upon the Cox, ease is misplaced. Unlike the situation in Cox, appellant’s retirement benefits in this case were earned and vested prior to the second marriage.
The motion for rehearing is denied.
WOLF and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Vada Burroughs v. Burroughs, 921 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)…December 20, 1991, they remarried, but separated again in October 2003, one month following the husband’s retirement. The remarriage ended in divorce on September 3, 2004. Relying upon Cox v. Cox, 659 So. 2d 1051 (Fla.1995), and Herring v. Herring, 666 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), the lower court ruled that the portion of the husband’s retirement benefits that had accrued before the second marriage was non-marital property and not subject to equitable division. In so deciding, the lower court erred. The…
-
Ballato v. Pinnix-Ballato, 829 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)…was separate from the equitable distribution scheme. Because neither party presented evidence or argument regarding alimony at the hearing, the trial court erred in awarding alimony. Hu v. Hu, 432 So. 2d 1389 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Herring v. Herring, 666 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). We therefore reverse the trial court’s lump sum alimony award but otherwise affirm the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded. ALTENBERND and WHATLEY, JJ., Concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Davis v. Rosman Charles Dieujuste, 496 So. 2d 806 (Fla. 1986)
- COX v. Kimi Lea COX, 659 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 1995)
- Hines v. Hines, 494 So. 2d 297 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
- Speigner v. Speigner, 644 So. 2d 1035 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Vadala v. Vadala, 556 So. 2d 438 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)