KURT E. EDWARDS, APPELLANT,
v.
CAROL SIMONE EDWARDS, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2002-05-08
No. 2D00-771
COVINGTON, J., and DANAHY, PAUL W., Senior Judge, concur.
819 So. 2d 837 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2002) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 cases
Topics
Qualified Domestic Relations Order Equitable Distribution Of Marital Assets

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Opinion of the Court
WHATLEY, Judge.

WHATLEY, Judge.

The husband, Kurt E. Edwards, appeals the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. We affirm in all respects except as to the court’s imposition of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) in connection with the husband’s municipal pension as a firefighter. The trial court correctly recognized, pursuant to section 61.075(5)(a)(4), Florida Statutes (1999), that the husband’s pension was a marital asset and that the wife, Carol Simone Edwards, had an interest therein. The problem is that the final judgment imposed a QDRO to secure the wife’s interest. QDROs cannot be used to force direct payment to a nonparticipating spouse of a portion of a spouse’s municipal pension benefits in order to achieve equitable distribution of marital assets. See Bd. of Pension Trs. v. Vizcaino, 635 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).

Accordingly, we remand this cause for the trial court to fashion an alternative method of distribution regarding the subject pension. Communication by counsel with the appropriate municipal entity will be indispensable in achieving a correct and sustainable result.

Affirmed in part; remanded in part.

COVINGTON, J., and DANAHY, PAUL W., Senior Judge, concur.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Bd. OF Trs. OF the Orlando Police Pension Plan v. Langford, 833 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
    …ension of former husband who was employed as city fireman was not subject to a qualified domestic relations order in order to effect equitable distribution). Vizcaino has been followed by the Second District Court of Appeal. See Edwards v. Edwards, 819 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (a QDRO could not be used to force direct payment to a nonparticipating spouse of a portion of a spouse’s municipal pension benefits in order to achieve an equitable distribution). It has also been cited with approval by the Secon…
  • Rumler v. Rumler, 932 So. 2d 1165 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
    …on as Alimony The final judgment directed the Husband to pay a portion of his pension to the Wife as alimony because a municipal pension is not subject to equitable distribution by a qualified domestic relations order. § 185.25; Edwards v. Edwards, 819 So. 2d 837, 838 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Carolo v. Carollo, 920 So. 2d 16, 20 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). Equity empowers the trial court to fashion an alternative remedy to safeguard the Wife’s interest in the pension. Edwards, 819 So. 2d at 838; see also Acker, 904 So. 2…
  • Palmateer v. Palmateer, 260 So. 3d 476 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)

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