RAY SAYEGH, APPELLANT,
v.
CHRISTINA D. SAYEGH, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2000-12-20
No. 2D99-4994
PATTERSON, C.J., and THREADGILL, J., concur.
777 So. 2d 1007 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2000) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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.

Synopsis

Ray Sayegh appealed a divorce judgment challenging the trial court's award of lump sum alimony to his ex-wife, its failure to address a marital debt, and its award of attorney's fees. The appellate court reversed all three rulings, finding the alimony award lacked proper statutory findings, the debt was unaddressed, and the attorney's fees award lacked evidentiary support.


Holding

The court reversed the lump sum alimony award because the trial court failed to make findings under section 61.08 and the evidence was insufficient to support any alimony award; remanded the unaddressed marital debt for further proceedings; and reversed the attorney's fees award for lack of evidentiary support regarding services performed and fee reasonableness.


Headnotes

[1] A court must consider the relevant economic factors enumerated in section 61.08, Florida Statutes, when awarding lump sum alimony.

[2] Lump sum alimony may be awarded to assist a spouse's transition to single life if the need is demonstrated by specific expenses.

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“By way of example, we proffered several instances in which a spouse might need a lump sum payment to cover expenses occasioned by the transition — to replace household items, to pay deposits on a new residence and utilities, or to buy an automobile.”

Establishes the types of concrete transition expenses required to justify lump sum alimony

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Ray and Christina Sayegh were married and separated five years before the marriage was formally dissolved. The trial court awarded Christina lump sum …

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.


Opinion of the Court
NORTHCUTT, Judge.

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

Ray Sayegh challenges three aspects of the judgment dissolving his marriage to Christina Sayegh: its award of lump sum alimony, its failure to identify a debt as marital and allocate it between the parties, and its award of fees to the wife’s attorney. We agree with all Mr. Sayegh’s arguments and reverse.

Concerning alimony, none of the court’s oral or written findings reflect that it considered the relevant economic factors listed in section 61.08, Florida Statutes (1997).

Instead, the court stated that it awarded the alimony to “equalize[ ] the purported income of the two sides for the transition into single life for the wife.” In Borchard v. Borchard, 780 So. 2d 748 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), we approved the use of lump sum alimony as a means to assist a spouse’s transition to single life, if the need was demonstrated. By way of example, we proffered several instances in which a spouse might need a lump sum payment to cover expenses occasioned by the transition — to replace household items, to pay deposits on a new residence and utilities, or to buy an automobile. This list is not all-inclusive, of course, but Mrs. Sayegh never said she had any expenses of these kinds.

Moreover, the Sayeghs were separated and living apart for five years before their marriage was formally dissolved. It is hard to believe that Mrs. Sayegh had not already accomplished the transition discussed in Borchard. In most cases we would remand for the court to make the appropriate findings under section 61.08. See Ritter v. Ritter, 690 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). Here, however, the evidence simply was insufficient to support an alimony award.

Accordingly, we reverse that part of the judgment.

Next, the final judgment did not address a $5,000 debt to Associated Financial Services. Mr. Sayegh testified without contradiction that the parties had incurred the debt, and he presented copies of letters from the creditor seeking to collect the debt from him. The court should have determined whether the debt was marital or nonmarital and addressed it in the final judgment. See § 61.075, Fla. Stat. (1997); Ritter, 690 So. 2d at 1375-76. We remand for further evidence on this issue.

We note that this could be a Pyrrhic victory for Mr. Sayegh because there is some indication in the record that this debt may have been discharged as against Mrs. Sayegh when she filed bankruptcy. It may be that the circuit court’s authority to apportion this debt has been abrogated. See Bates v. Bates, 705 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).

Finally, we reverse the award of fees to the wife’s trial counsel. No evidence established the services performed or the reasonableness of the fees. See Saussy v. Saussy, 560 So. 2d 1385 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); see also Rosen v. Rosen, 696 So. 2d 697 (Fla.1997). Because we are remanding for further evidence on the Associated Financial Services debt, we remand for further proceedings on this issue as well.

Reversed and remanded.

PATTERSON, C.J., and THREADGILL, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Stanislaw Matajek v. Leokadia Skowronska, 927 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
    …The Former Wife disputed his- characterization of this transaction as a loan. Moreover, “[n]o written evidence of this indebtedness was introduced in the record below.” Santos v. Santos, 773 So. 2d 568, 570 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); cf. Sayegh v. Sayegh, 777 So. 2d 1007, 1008 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). Even if the existence of the debt had been established, the Former Husband’s claim of error on this point should fail because no evidence was introduced below to establish that, at the time of trial, “there was any outstand…
  • ICE v. ICE, 842 So. 2d 220 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
    …8) (holding that the failure to make sufficient findings regarding the value of property and identification of marital assets and debts constitutes reversible error and requires remand for appropriate findings to be made); see also Sayegh v. Sayegh, 777 So. 2d 1007, 1008 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). Accordingly, we reverse the equitable distribution and remand to the trial court to make the necessary findings in accordance with section 61.075(3)(c). See Cook v. Cook, 714 So. 2d 1158, 1158 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); Segall…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw