CAROL M. ROSENBLOOM, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHAEL ROSENBLOOM, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2003-06-11
Nos. 4D02-1918, 4D02-2399
GUNTHER and FARMER, JJ., concur.
851 So. 2d 190 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2003) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 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

Carol Rosenbloom appealed a final dissolution judgment, challenging the trial court's decision requiring her to reimburse her former husband $423,777 for alleged waste of marital assets through stock trading losses. The appellate court reversed the equitable distribution finding while affirming other aspects of the dissolution, holding that the evidence did not sufficiently support charging the former wife with intentional dissipation of marital assets.


Holding

The court reversed the equitable distribution ruling, holding that the record did not support an inference of intentional dissipation and waste of marital assets, as the inference was essentially speculative and insufficiently supported. The court affirmed the denial of relocation leave but indicated the issue should be revisited after the parties complete counseling.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's finding of intentional dissipation and waste of marital assets must be supported by sufficient evidence in the record, not mere speculation or assumptions…

[2] A spouse who leaves all financial and investment matters in the hands of the other spouse must share equally in marital losses, even if the managing spouse's investment c…

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Key Quotes

“drawing an inference of intentional dissipation and waste of marital assets from the confluence of events appearing on this record is essentially speculative and is based on assumptions that are not sufficiently supported by the record”

Establishes the court's rationale for reversing the trial court's finding of asset waste; the evidence was insufficient to support such an inference

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Facts & Procedural History

During the marriage, the former husband left all financial and investment matters in the hands of the former wife. Between 2000-2002, the parties' sto…

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Opinion of the Court
STONE, J.

STONE, J.

This is an appeal of a final judgment of dissolution in which multiple issues are raised. Having reviewed the record, we reverse only as to the issue of equitable distribution; in all other respects, we affirm. See Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1980).

As to the equitable distribution, the record does not support the trial court’s decision that the former wife must reimburse the former husband $423,777 for a portion of the parties’ stock market losses that were incurred in her management of the parties’ marital assets. We recognize that there is evidence that the former wife failed to advise the former husband of the extent of the stock losses being incurred during 2000-2002 and that there was a substantial increase in her trading activity as the market fell. The ultimate percentage of the loss that was charged to the former wife as waste is based on testimony and extrapolations by the former husband’s accountant arriving at “excess” losses that exceeded an average decline in the major stock indexes during the same period. However, drawing an inference of intentional dissipation and waste of marital assets from the confluence of events appearing on this record is essentially speculative and is based on assumptions that are not sufficiently supported by the record.

It is obvious that the former wife’s investment practices and her conduct was troubling to the court; however, given the history of the parties’ mutual treatment of their financial and investment affairs, in which the former husband left all such matters in the former wife’s hands, there is an insufficient basis for an unequal distribution of assets. The former husband, who would have shared in any profits, must share equally in the losses, notwithstanding that the former wife’s investment conduct may well have been imprudent. See § 61.075(1)®, Fla. Stat. (2001); Gentile v. Gentile, 565 So. 2d 820, 823 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)(holding that husband’s imprudent investments which lost their value in 1987 stock market crash not adequate justification for inequitable distribution of marital assets). We also conclude that the amount arrived at is speculative.

Further, although we affirm the court’s denial of leave for the former wife to relocate to another state with the parties’ eight year old child, the expert testimony, relied upon by the court, indicates that the issue should be reviewed again after the parties have completed counseling.

Therefore, we reverse and remand for modification of the final judgment as to the equitable distribution. In all other respects, we affirm, without prejudice to the former wife again seeking leave to relocate following counseling.

GUNTHER and FARMER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Rosenbloom v. Rosenbloom, 892 So. 2d 531 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …al evidence and the court did not abuse its discretion. We find no merit in the other points raised by the appeal or cross-appeal. AFFIRMED. FARMER, C.J., and KLEIN, J., concur. . Affirmed in part and reversed in part, Ro-senbloom v. Rosenbloom, 851 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). . 300 times $175 equals $52,500, not $61,250. However, the total of $267,262.50 is correct using $52,500. Since the number of hours and hourly rate for Mr. Lewen are stated, this error is harmless. . In re: B.T., 887 So. 2d 41…
  • Ouslander v. Olena Ouslander, 398 So. 3d 1002 (Fla. 4th DCA 2024)
    …nd it credible.”). As to the claim that the court erred by failing to assign marital debt to the former wife for her investment activity losses, we also conclude that the former husband has shown no abuse of discretion. See Rosenbloom v. Rosenbloom, 851 So. 2d 190, 191 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (“The former husband, who would have shared in any profits, must share equally in the losses, notwithstanding that the former wife's investment conduct may well have been imprudent.”). Finally, the court did not abuse its di…

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