LAWRENCE GILBERT, APPELLANT,
v.
DANY KATZ-GILBERT, APPELLEE
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In this dissolution of marriage appeal, the former husband challenges the trial court's allocation of marital liabilities, arguing the court disproportionately assigned over $200,000 in debt to him while assigning less than $2,500 to the former wife without providing required factual findings to justify this unequal distribution. The Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed, holding that Florida law requires explicit factual findings supporting any unequal distribution of marital liabilities and reversed the equitable distribution portion of the judgment.
The trial court erred by failing to include required factual findings to support the unequal distribution of marital liabilities. When making an unequal distribution of marital assets and liabilities in a contested dissolution action, the trial court must include factual findings based on competent substantial evidence referencing the factors enumerated in section 61.075(1). Failure to include these findings constitutes reversible error.
[1] A trial court must include factual findings to explain or justify a disproportionate distribution of marital liabilities in a contested dissolution action.
[2] Failure to include factual findings supporting an unequal distribution of marital liabilities constitutes reversible error.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“when a trial court makes an unequal distribution of the marital assets and liabilities in a contested dissolution action, the trial court must include 'factual findings in the judgment or order based on competent substantial evidence with reference to the factors enumerated in' section 61.075(1) to explain or justify the disproportionate equitable distribution.”
Establishes the mandatory requirement for factual findings supporting unequal distribution of marital liabilities
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLawrence Gilbert and Dany Katz-Gilbert were involved in a dissolution of marriage proceeding. The trial court's amended final judgment allocated over …
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Lawrence Gilbert, the former husband, appeals the trial court’s amended final judgment of dissolution of marriage. The former husband contends, among other things, that the trial court erred in allocating a disproportionate share of the marital liabilities to him without including factual findings to explain or justify the unequal distribution. We agree and reverse the equitable distribution portion of the amended final judgment and remand for reconsideration. We affirm all other aspects of the amended final judgment without comment.
A review of the equitable distribution provisions of the amended final judgment shows that the trial court allocated over $200,000 in liabilities, mostly credit card debt, to the former husband and less than $2500 to the former wife. Pursuant to section 61.075(3), Florida Statutes (2010), when a trial court makes an unequal distribution of the marital assets and liabilities in a contested dissolution action, the trial court must include “factual findings in the judgment or order based on competent substantial evidence with reference to the factors enumerated in” section 61.075(1) to explain or justify the disproportionate equitable distribution. Failure to include these findings in the final judgment constitutes reversible error. See, e.g., Lule v. Lule, 60 So.3d 567, 568 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011); Jalileyan v. Jalileyan, 4 So.3d 1289 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). On remand, the trial court must reallocate the marital liabilities or make factual findings necessary to support an unequal distribution. Montalvo v. Montalvo, 949 So.2d 350, 351 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).
We find the other issues raised by the former husband to be without merit and áffirm in all other respects the amended final judgment of dissolution.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
TAYLOR and GERBER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Lule v. Lule, 60 So. 3d 567 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
- Neli Montalvo v. Montalvo, 949 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
- Mohssen Jalileyan v. Laden Jalileyan, 4 So. 3d 1289 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)