RAFAEL M. NAVARRO, APPELLANT,
v.
KRISTA ROSE NAVARRO, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2016-12-30
Nos. CASE NO. 1D15-4201 & 15-4613
B.L. THOMAS, WETHERELL, and M.K. THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.
209 So. 3d 74 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2016) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

In this Florida family law appeal, the former husband challenges the trial court's distribution of marital assets and liabilities in a supplemental final judgment dissolving the marriage. The appellate court found merit only in his argument that the trial court failed to make required written findings valuing the marital assets and liabilities, and reversed and remanded that portion while affirming the remainder.


Holding

The trial court erred by failing to make specific written findings concerning the valuation of marital assets and liabilities required by section 61.075(3), Florida Statutes. The appellate court reversed the distribution of marital assets and liabilities and remanded for the trial court to make specific findings on asset and liability values and either reconsider the distribution to make it equal or provide findings justifying an unequal distribution.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must make specific written findings of fact, including the values of marital assets and liabilities, to support its distribution of marital property.

[2] An appellate court cannot conduct a meaningful review of a trial court's distribution of marital assets and liabilities without specific findings on their values.

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Key Quotes

“Section 61.075(3), Florida Statutes (2014), requires the trial court to make specific written findings of fact to support its distribution of the parties' marital assets and liabilities, including findings on the values of the assets and liabilities.”

Establishes the statutory requirement for specific valuation findings in asset distribution cases

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Facts & Procedural History

The trial court issued a supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage identifying significant marital assets and liabilities and specifying …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The Former Husband appeals the supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage and the post-judgment order on the Former Wife’s motion for contempt, enforcement, and sanctions.* We find mer*75it only in the Former Husband’s argument that the trial court erred by not valuing the marital assets and liabilities distributed in the supplemental final judgment. Accordingly, on that issue, we reverse and remand for the trial court to make specific findings on the value of the marital assets and liabilities, and if necessary based on those findings, to either reconsider the distribution scheme in the supplemental final judgment or make additional findings to support an unequal distribution. We find no merit in the other issues raised by the Former Husband.

Section 61.075(3), Florida Statutes (2014), requires the trial court to make specific written findings of fact to support its distribution of the parties’ marital assets and liabilities, including findings on the values of the assets and liabilities. Without such findings, the appellate court is unable to conduct a meaningful review of the distribution ordered by the trial court. See Shoffner v. Shoffner, 744 So.2d 1157, 1157-58 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999).

Here, the trial court specifically identified the significant marital assets and liabilities and specified which spouse received them. The court did not, however, make the required written findings concerning the valuation of these assets and liabilities. Without such findings, we are unable to determine whether the distribution ordered by the trial court was equal, but it appears that the distribution favored the Former Wife. Specifically, based on the values listed in the parties’ financial affidavits, it appears that the Former Wife received between $179,793 and $202,406 in net assets while the Former Husband received between negative $8,614 and negative $17,270 in net assets.

The trial court has the authority to order an unequal distribution of marital assets and liabilities. See § 61.075(1), Fla. Stat. However, if it does so, the court must provide specific written findings justifying the unequal distribution. Id.; Wagner v. Wagner, 61 So.3d 1141, 1143 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011); Davis v. Davis, 32 So.3d 743, 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). Here, the supplemental final judgment contains no findings to justify what appears to be an unequal distribution of the marital assets and liabilities.

Accordingly, we reverse the distribution of the marital assets and liabilities in the supplemental final judgment and remand for the trial court to (1) make specific findings on the values of the marital assets and liabilities distributed to each party, and (2) either reconsider the distribution scheme to equally distribute the marital assets and liabilities, or make specific findings to justify an unequal distribution. We affirm the supplemental final judgment in all other respects, and we also affirm the contempt order.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED with directions.

B.L. THOMAS, WETHERELL, and M.K. THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Legere v. Legere (Fla. 1st DCA 2020)
    …r rehearing and Mr. Legere appealed, among other things, the equitable distribution portion of the final judgment. Analysis “The trial court has the authority to order an unequal distribution of marital assets and liabilities.” Navarro v. Navarro, 209 So. 3d 74, 75 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016). “However, if it does so, the court must provide specific written findings justifying the unequal distribution.” Id. Those findings must be supported by competent, substantial evidence. See Wagner v. Wagner, 61 So. 3d 1141, 1…
  • Janett Maxine Smith v. Smith, 338 So. 3d 1090 (Fla. 1st DCA 2022)
    …al court’s rationale for the distribution of marital assets and allocation of liabilities.” Id. “Without such findings, the appellate court is unable to conduct a meaningful review of the distribution ordered by the trial court.” Navarro v. Navarro, 209 So. 3d 74, 75 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (citing Shoffner v. Shoffner, 744 So. 2d 1157, 1157–58 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)); see also Williams v. Williams, 133 So. 3d 605, 606 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (the trial court “must make specific written findings of fact identifying mar…

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