RUFUS HUTCHINSON, APPELLANT,
v.
HATTIE P. HUTCHINSON, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2015-10-02
No. 1D15-232
ROBERTS, C.J., BENTON and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
185 So. 3d 528 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2015) Positive Treatment
Cited by 9 cases

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Synopsis

Former Husband appeals a final judgment of dissolution of marriage, challenging alimony and attorney's fees awards. The court affirms the alimony award but reverses the attorney's fees award, holding that where equitable distribution and alimony leave parties in substantially equal financial positions, the trial court abuses its discretion in awarding attorney's fees.


Holding

The trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees and costs. Where marital property has been equitably distributed and the parties' incomes have been equalized through alimony awards, placing them in substantially equal financial positions and equally able to pay attorney's fees, the award of fees must be reversed.


Headnotes

[1] An award of attorney's fees and costs in dissolution of marriage cases is controlled by section 61.16, Florida Statutes, and is primarily based on the requesting spouse's…

[2] A trial court abuses its discretion by awarding attorney's fees and costs when the parties are equally able to pay.

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Key Quotes

“the ultimate issue of fees and costs must be primarily based on the parties' respective financial circumstances”

Establishes the controlling legal standard for attorney's fees awards in family law matters under section 61.16

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Facts & Procedural History

The parties were married for thirty-six years and enjoyed a relatively modest standard of living, except for luxury vehicles. The trial court determin…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM/

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

PER CURIAM/

We deny the Former Husband’s Motion for Rehearing, but we withdraw our previously issued opinion and substitute this opinion in its place..

Rufus Hutchinson (“Former Husband”) appeals the final judgment of dissolution of marriage, challenging the trial court’s alimony and attorney’s-fees and costs awards to Hattie P. Hutchinson (“Former Wife”), *529on several grounds. We reverse the award of attorney’s fees and costs for the reasons stated below, but affirm the final judgment in all other respects without further discussion.

The trial court found that the parties enjoyed a relatively modest standard of living during their thirty-six-year marriage, except for the luxury vehicles they drove. The trial court adopted the parties’ agreement as to equitable distribution, determined that the Former Husband’s annual total income is $89,050 and the-Former Wife’s annual total income is $39,800, and awarded to the Former Wife $2,100. a month in alimony for twelve years. The trial court then ordered the Former Husband to pay $6,000 of the Former Wife’s attorney’s fees and costs. This appeal followed.

The trial court’s award of attorney’s fees is reviewed for an abuse of discretion and is controlled by section 61.16, Florida Statutes. Mitchell v. Mitchell, 141 So.3d 1228, 1229 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). The purpose of section 61.16 is “ ‘to ensure that both parties will have a similar ability to obtain competent legal counsel’ as such, the ultimate issue of fees and costs must be primarily based on the parties’ respective financial circumstances. Broemer v. Broemer, 109 So.3d 284, 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (quoting Rosen v. Rosen, 696 So.2d 697, 699 (Fla.1997), and explaining that “[t]he general standard for awarding attorney’s fees and costs is the requesting spouse’s financial need and the other spouse’s ability to pay”). Where the parties are equally able to pay attorney’s fees, the trial court abuses its discretion by requiring one spouse to pay the other’s fees. Galligar v. Galligar, 77 So.3d 808, 812-13 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011).

Where marital property has been equitably distributed and the parties’ incomes have been equalized through an alimony award, the trial court- abuses its discretion by awarding attorney’s fees. Id. (reversing the award of attorney’s fees to the former wife where “the trial court’s order shows that the former husband’s salary is $5,500 pér month, that the former wife’s net income is $1,033, and that the former wife will receive $3,500 per month in alimony” because “[a]fter the allocation of alimony from the former husband to the former wife, the former husband is in no better position to pay attorney’s fees than the former wife is”); see also Cochran v. Cochran, 819 So.2d 863, 864 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) (reversing the attorney’s fees award because the distribution left the parties “on roughly equal financial footing”); Lopez v. Lopez, 780 So.2d 164, 166 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (reversing the award of attorney’s fees to the wife “[b]ecause the parties’ financial positions here were equalized through the award of alimony and equitable distribution of marital assets”); Kovar v. Kovar, 648 So.2d 177, 179-80 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (finding that the trial court abused its discretion by awarding attorney’s fees and costs where “the parties were placed in substantially equal financial positions” after the equitable distribution and alimony award).

Here, the trial court equitably distributed the marital property pursuant to the parties’ agreement, determined that the Former Husband’s monthly total income is $7,420.83 and the Former Wife’s is $3,316.66, and awarded to the Former Wife $2,100 in monthly alimony, thereby equalizing the parties’ incomes. Because the final judgment left the parties in substantially the same financial positions and equally able to pay the fees and costs, the trial court abused its discretion by awarding attorney’s fees and costs to the Former Wife. Accordingly, we reverse the award of attorney’s fees and costs.

*530AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part.

ROBERTS, C.J., BENTON and LEWIS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Hanson v. Hanson, 217 So. 3d 1165 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)
    …ony award. As a general rule, when “marital property has been equitably distributed and the parties’ incomes have been equalized through an alimony award, the trial court abuses its discretion by awarding attorney’s fees.” Hutchinson v. Hutchinson, 185 So. 3d 528, 529 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (citing Galligar v. Galligar, 77 So. 3d 808, 812-13 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)); see also Lopez v. Lopez, 780 So. 2d 164,166 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (concluding that an award of attorney’s fees to the wife was improper when “the parties…
  • Schneider v. Schneider, 189 So. 3d 276 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …uments in the record give the impression that the final judgment left the parties on roughly equal financial footing, or even that the former wife was in a better financial position, which would make the fee award improper. Hutchinson v. Hutchinson, 185 So. 3d 528, 529 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). However, this observation is only an impression, as no transcripts of the evidentiary hearings at which the parties’ financial circumstances were litigated are available, and the trial court’s orders do not contain findings…
  • Esad Kurtanovic v. Zineta Kurtanovic, 248 So. 3d 247 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)

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