RALPH PATINO, APPELLANT,
v.
YOLANDA PATINO, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2013-10-09
No. 4D12-2944
DAMOORGIAN, C.J, CIKLIN and CONNER, JJ., concur.
122 So. 3d 961 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2013) Positive Treatment
Cited by 19 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.


Holding

The court held that the trial court's final judgment was deficient because it failed to make explicit findings as to all statutorily mandated factors for alimony and failed to establish values for marital assets and liabilities in the equitable distribution scheme.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must make explicit findings as to all statutorily mandated factors for the determination of alimony.

[2] A trial court must establish a value for all marital assets and liabilities when devising an equitable distribution scheme.

Previewing 2 of 4 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

Facts & Procedural History

The trial court entered a final judgment in a divorce case that failed to make specific findings regarding all statutory factors for alimony and did n…

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
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We again remind trial judges of the importance of making explicit findings as to all statutorily mandated factors for the determination of alimony in final judgments, as well as establishing a value (even if zero or de minimus) for all marital assets and liabilities when devising an equitable distribution scheme. Because the trial court failed to do so in this case, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.1

We acknowledge the trial court entered a final judgment with findings of fact and conclusions of law, but as we discuss below, we find the final judgment deficient.

Alimony

Section 61.08(2), Florida Statutes (2010), mandates that the trial court evaluate “any relevant economic factors, includ*963ing standard of living during the marriage, age, earning ability, value of each party’s estate and contribution to the marriage.” Ryan v. Ryan, 927 So.2d 109, 112 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). The statute provides a specific, non-exhaustive list of factors. Lule v. Lule, 60 So.3d 567, 569 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). In conducting the required evaluation, the trial court must make findings of fact regarding each listed factor. Ryan, 927 So.2d at 112; Ondrejack v. Ondrejack, 839 So.2d 867, 870 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (“A failure to consider all of the mandated factors is reversible error.”) (citation omitted); Koski v. Koski, 98 So.3d 93, 96 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) (reversing because appellate court could not determine if trial court considered all applicable section 61.08(2) factors).

Here, the trial court explained in the final judgment that it considered six of the ten factors, but no mention was made of the other four factors. Further, the order completely fails to make any factual findings regarding the missing four factors; as a result, the order is insufficient to support an award of alimony. Therefore, we reverse so that the trial court may have an opportunity to make factual findings in accordance with section 61.08(2). Segall v. Segall, 708 So.2d 983, 986-87 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (“Although the court’s final judgment tracked the language of section 61.08(2) in discussing the factors it considered, it failed to make findings of fact relative to those factors.”).

Equitable Distribution

Section 61.075, Florida Statutes (2011), provides that in any contested action, specific written findings must be made identifying, valuing, and distributing the marital and non-marital assets and liabilities. “These factual findings required by section 61.075(3) are necessary, in order to facilitate effective appellate review of the trial court’s property distribution scheme.” Fulmer v. Fulmer, 961 So.2d 1081, 1082 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007).

In Whelan v. Whelan, 736 So.2d 732, 733 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), a final judgment awarded the husband’s interest in marital property to the wife but failed to value some of the assets. This court explained: “Even when no trial transcript is provided to the reviewing court, failure to make sufficient findings regarding value of property and identification of marital assets and debts constitutes reversible error and requires remand for appropriate findings to be made.” Id. (alteration, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted).

Here, the final judgment distributes marital property without stating the value of each asset and distributes marital debts without stating the amount of each liability. Because the final judgment as to equitable distribution is not supported by the required factual findings, it is insufficient, and we reverse so that the trial court may enter an order including these values.

Attorneys’ Fees

Where equitable distribution or alimony is disturbed due to a reversal on appeal, it may be appropriate to reexamine attorneys’ fees to determine if the redistribution of assets and liabilities affects the award. Segall, 708 So.2d at 989 (“[WJhere ... the results of an appeal materially change the parties’ abilities to pay, the issue of attorneys’ fees must be revisited upon remand to the trial court.”). The trial court may determine the parties’ relative needs and ability to pay, but only after the trial court clarifies the equitable distribution scheme and alimony. See Lee v. Lee, 56 So.3d 819, 821 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011). If, after reexamination of the equitable distribution scheme, the trial court redis*964tributes the parties’ assets and liabilities and adjusts incomes through alimony, it may also be necessary to reexamine the parties’ need and ability to pay attorneys’ fees. Therefore, we reverse the award of attorneys’ fees so that the trial court may have such an opportunity.

Reversed and remanded.

DAMOORGIAN, C.J, CIKLIN and CONNER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Badgley v. Sanchez, 165 So. 3d 742 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …ome of the findings could be fairly read to correlate with the factors set forth in section 61.08(2), other factors are wholly ignored. A trial court errs where, as here, it fails to make the findings required by section 61.08. See Patino v. Patino, 122 So. 3d 961, 963 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (stating that “[i]n conducting the required evaluation, the trial court must make findings of fact regarding each listed factor”; reversing alimony award where judgment indicated court had considered six of ten factors, but…
  • Ehman v. Ehman, 156 So. 3d 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)
    …y the trial court.”). We remind the trial court that it will be required to again make findings pursuant to sections 61.08(2) and 61.075(3), Florida Statutes (2011). See Turcotte v. Turcotte, 122 So. 3d 954, 957 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013); Patino v. Patino, 122 So. 3d 961, 963 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). We do not set aside the trial court’s judgment dissolving the parties’ marriage. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions. KELLY and MORRIS, JJ., Concur.…
  • Addie v. Onyx Coale, 179 So. 3d 534 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …708 So. 2d 983, 986-87 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (“Although the court’s final judgment tracked the language of section 61.08(2) in discussing the factors it considered, it failed to make findings of fact relative to those factors.”). . Patino v. Patino, 122 So. 3d 961, 962-68 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018); see also Badgley v. Sanchez, 166 So. 3d 742, 744 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (citing Patino for the same proposition). In this ease, the trial judge did not reconsider each of the required statutory factors listed in section 61…

Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw