MARK ERNEST CISSEL, APPELLANT,
v.
JANA BLACKWELL CISSEL, APPELLEE
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In a divorce appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's alimony and child support awards because they were based on gross rather than net income and failed to properly account for the husband's business expenses and non-recurring bonuses. The court found the trial court's findings regarding the parties' income could not be sustained and remanded for recalculation.
Alimony and child support awards must be based on net rather than gross income, with proper deductions for business expenses. The trial court erred in using gross income of $18,109 and in treating non-recurring bonuses and restricted stock as recurring earnings. The trial court also failed to make adequate findings regarding the statutory alimony factors beyond length of marriage and marital standard of living.
[1] Alimony awards must be predicated upon the parties' net monthly incomes, not gross monthly earnings.
[2] In determining a party's income for support awards, undisputed business expenses must be deducted.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Alimony awards must be predicated upon the income that is available to the parties, i.e., the parties' net monthly incomes.”
Establishes the fundamental principle that support awards must be based on net, not gross, income.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMark and Jana Cissel were married for twenty-two years. The trial court found the husband had gross monthly earnings of $18,109 based on a fourteen-mo…
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This consolidated appeal stems from a final judgment dissolving the twenty-two-year marriage of Mark and Jana Cissel and requiring the husband to pay $3,000 per month in permanent periodic alimony, $1,652.92 per month in child support, his proportionate share of the children’s private school tuition, and sixty percent of the wife’s attorney’s fees and costs. The husband seeks reversal, challenging the trial court’s findings regarding his income; the wife has cross-appealed, insisting the alimony award was insufficient. Because we find the trial court’s findings concerning the husband’s income cannot be sustained, we reverse and remand.
The trial court’s finding that the husband had gross monthly earnings of $18,109 was based upon the husband’s average earnings over the fourteen months preceding the hearing. In this case, we find no error in the trial court’s resort to such average. We agree with the husband, though, that the $18,109 gross income figure was not the proper basis for any support awards. Alimony awards must be predicated upon the income that is available to the parties, i.e., the parties’ net monthly incomes. See § 61.08(2)(i), Fla. Stat. (requiring trial court to consider “[a]ll sources of income available to either party”) (emphasis added); Zold v. Zold, 911 So.2d 1222, 1229 (Fla.2005); Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197, 1202 (Fla.1980). This is particularly troublesome as to the husband’s income since the trial court failed to deduct the husband’s undisputed business expenses, averaging in excess of $2,000 per month. See, e.g., Valentine v. Van Sickle, 42 So.3d 267, 273 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (holding husband’s per diem reimbursement for business expenses could not be included in monthly income for purposes of calculating alimony where funds were used to pay for husband’s business travel and did not reduce his personal living expenses). Moreover, in determining the husband’s income, the trial court erroneously treated the longevity bonus and restricted stock amounts reflected in the January-February 2009 paystubs as recurring earnings. For these reasons, we find that the trial court’s findings regarding the parties’ income cannot be sustained.
Further, in awarding alimony, the trial court must consider, and make factual findings concerning, the factors set forth in section 61.08, Florida Statutes (2010). See § 61.08(1), Fla. Stat. (“In all dissolution actions, the court shall include findings of fact relative to the factors enumerated in subsection (2) supporting an award or denial of alimony.”); Lift v. Lift, 1 So.3d 259, 261 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (“A trial court must support its alimony decision by including findings of fact in the final judgment.”). Here, the trial court’s findings were limited to the length of the marriage and the fact that the standard of living during the marriage consumed approximately $20,000 per month. And, in this case, the marital standard of living was of little value in determining an appropriate alimony award as the undisputed evidence was that the marital lifestyle cost more than the parties’ regular earnings *893and was funded, in part, by a sign-on bonus that had been spent by the time of the proceedings. See Nichols v. Nichols, 907 So.2d 620, 623 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (recognizing marital standard of living is not useful guide in awarding alimony where parties lived beyond their means).
Accordingly, we reverse those provisions of the final judgment addressing alimony, child support, private school tuition, temporary support, and attorney’s fees.1 The case is remanded with directions that the trial court reconsider these issues after revisiting the matter of the parties’ net incomes, particularly the husband’s, consistent with this opinion.
Affirmed in part; Reversed in Part; and Remanded.
TAYLOR and LEVINE, JJ., concur.
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Moore v. Moore, 157 So. 3d 435 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)…ve intent that trial courts consider only that portion of a spouse’s income that is available to the spouse.” An award of alimony must be based on the income that is available to the party, i.e., the party’s net monthly income. See Cissel v. Cissel, 82 So. 3d 891, 892 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). In calculating a party’s monthly income, business expenses must be deducted from the party’s gross income. Id.; see also Coppola v. Coppola, 630 So. 2d 673, 674 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (“In calculating expenses, the court appar…
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Threadgill v. Nishimura, 222 So. 3d 633 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…gross income calculations in determining child support). Here, the trial court erred in calculating the Former Husband’s business income using his gross receipts without subtracting his ordinary and necessary business expenses. See Cissel v. Cissel, 82 So. 3d 891, 892 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (reversing alimony award where “trial court failed to deduct the husband’s undisputed business expenses” in calculating former husband’s income). The trial court also erred in calculating the alimony owed by the Former Husb…
Authorities Cited
- Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1980)
- Zold v. Zold, 911 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 2005)
- Valentine v. van Sickle, 42 So. 3d 267 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
- Lopez v. Lopez, 780 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
- Weeks v. The Crossings AT Fleming Island Cmty. Dev. Dist., 907 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)
- Lift v. Lift, 1 So. 3d 259 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
- Eaton v. Eaton, 16 So. 3d 289 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)