SANDRA DEMORAES, APPELLANT,
v.
ROMEL T. DEMORAES, 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.
In this post-dissolution case, the court affirmed the denial of Sandra Demoraes's motion to increase alimony but reversed the circuit court's refusal to enforce a provision requiring her former husband to transfer his interest in a Brazilian apartment to her. The court held that the husband's obligation to convey the property included the obligation to pay transfer costs, and he could not avoid his court-ordered duty by citing increased costs or complexity.
The court held that the husband's obligation to convey the property to the wife included the obligation to pay the costs of transfer, and that the wife's actions or inactions were irrelevant to his duty. The husband could not use increased costs or procedural complexity as reasons to avoid his court-ordered obligation. The circuit court erred in denying the motion to enforce.
[1] A party ordered to convey property in a dissolution judgment is obligated to pay the costs associated with the transfer.
[2] A party's failure to effectuate a court-ordered property transfer does not excuse the other party's obligation to perform the transfer.
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 intelligence“under the final judgment, it was the husband's obligation to convey the apartment to her. What the wife did or did not do is irrelevant.”
Establishes that the husband's duty to transfer was independent of the wife's conduct and efforts.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties' marriage was dissolved in September 1986. The final judgment of dissolution required the husband to convey to the wife all his right, tit…
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 Motion To Modify Alimony cases and more on FLexlaw
NORTHCUTT, Judge.
In this post-dissolution action, Sandra De-moraes challenges the circuit court’s refusal to increase her alimony and to enforce a provision in the final judgment of dissolution that required the former husband to transfer to her an apartment in Brazil. We affirm the denial of her motion to modify alimony without discussion. We reverse the circuit court’s ruling on the motion to enforce the transfer of the apartment.
The parties’ marriage was dissolved in September 1986. The pertinent portion of the final judgment ordered:
(7) That the husband shall convey to wife, all right, title and interest he may have in and to the condominium and contents of same which is located in Brazil described as:
Apartment number 1306 at Rua Vis-conde de Caravelo, 98, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The husband never conveyed his interest. In its order rejecting the wife’s effort to enforce this provision, the circuit court noted that the husband “has always been ready, willing and able to sign whatever documents were needed to effectuate the transfer....” and it opined that the husband was not at fault. The court further found that the wife “did nothing much to effectuate the transfer....” We do not question the circuit court’s findings, but we note that the wife had no duty at all concerning the transfer; under the final judgment, it was the husband’s obligation to convey the apartment to her. What the wife did or did not do is irrelevant.
Another reason the court denied the wife’s motion was that the evidence showed the present cost to transfer the title was greater than it would have been in 1986. Moreover, the procedure required to accomplish the transfer appeared to be more complicated now than it would have been at the time of the parties’ divorce.
The husband’s obligation to convey the property included the obligation to pay the costs of the transfer. See Dowie v. Dowie, 668 So. 2d 290, 292 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (holding that agreement to transfer property in a pending dissolution included obligation to pay costs of transfer). The husband could have initiated the transfer in 1986 when the costs were smaller and the procedure less complex, but, for whatever reason, he did not. He cannot now use these reasons to avoid his court-ordered duty. We reverse the circuit court’s order to the extent that it denied the wife’s motion to enforce the provision of the final judgment requiring the husband to transfer his interest in the apartment to her. We realize, however, that it now may be impossible for the husband to convey his interest to the wife. Evidence at the hearing on the wife’s motion indicated that the apartment was in foreclosure. On remand, we direct the circuit court to determine the present state of the title. If the husband still has an interest in the property, we instruct the court to enter an order requiring him to effectuate the transfer to the wife within a reasonable time. Alternatively, if he is unable to transfer any interest to the wife, we instruct the court to take additional evidence on the value of his interest in the apartment as of the date the marriage was dissolved. The court shall enter judgment for the wife in that amount, plus interest from the date of the final judgment of dissolution of marriage.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
BLUE, A.C.J., and CASANÜEVA, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Chelsey Seawell v. Hargarten, 28 So. 3d 152 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…mely Transfer Assets The law is clear: where a final judgment of dissolution of marriage provides for the transfer of assets, it is the responsibility of the spouse in possession of those assets to effectuate the transfer. See Demoraes v. Demoraes, 714 So. 2d 1150, 1151 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Similar to the present case, the trial court in Demo-raes denied the wife’s motion to enforce a property settlement agreement incorporated in a final judgment. Id. The Second District reversed, holding that the husband shou…
Authorities Cited
- Dowie v. Dowie, 668 So. 2d 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)