SMOOT
v.
SMOOT
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Assets acquired separately by one party before marriage are nonmarital property and do not become marital property absent evidence of enhancement, commingling, or intent to gift.
[1] A premarital asset acquired by one spouse before marriage and maintained under sole control without evidence of enhancement, commingling, or intent to gift remains nonmar…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“assets that are acquired separately by one party before the marriage are nonmarital assets”
Court citing Fla. Stat. § 61.075(6)(b)1. (2020) to establish the governing legal standard
Kenneth Smoot acquired a First National Bank of Omaha CD account ten years before marrying Luz Minerva Smoot and maintained sole control over it throu…
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FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
No. 1D2023-0698 _____________________________
KENNETH HENRY SMOOT,
Appellant,
v.
LUZ MINERVA SMOOT,
Appellee. _____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Santa Rosa County.
J. Scott Duncan, Judge.
June 12, 2024
PER CURIAM.
Kenneth Henry Smoot seeks review of the final judgment dissolving his marriage to Luz Minerva Smoot. On appeal, he raises several arguments. Only one merits discussion. Below, the trial court included one of Mr. Smoot’s First National Bank of Omaha CD accounts in the equitable distribution schedule. But assets that are acquired separately by one party before the marriage are nonmarital assets. § 61.075(6)(b)1., Fla. Stat. (2020). Here, the unrebutted evidence established that Mr. Smoot acquired the account ten years before he married Ms. Smoot and maintained sole control over it during the marriage. There was no evidence of any circumstances that would transform this nonmarital asset into a marital asset. See Street v. Street, 303 So.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
E. Jane Thorsen and Therese Felth McKenzie of McKenzie Law
Firm, Pensacola, for Appellant.
Luz Minerva Smoot, pro se, Appellee.