AHMED TAHA
v.
NOHA HUSSEIN HASSAN
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A stipulation properly entered into relating to equitable distribution in a divorce is binding upon the parties and the court, and the trial court cannot impose an equalizing payment that contradicts the stipulation.
[1] A stipulation properly entered into at trial relating to equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities is binding upon both the parties and the court and canno…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“[a] stipulation properly entered into and relating to a matter upon which it is appropriate to stipulate is binding upon the parties and upon the Court.”
Court's statement of the governing legal principle regarding binding stipulations in litigation.
After a long-term marriage with few assets and substantial liabilities, including the former husband's student loans, the parties stipulated at trial …
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SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 6D2024-1270 Lower Tribunal No. 2020-DR-12259-O _____________________________
AHMED TAHA, Appellant, v. NOHA HUSSEIN HASSAN, Appellee. _____________________________
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Elaine A. Barbour, Judge.
October 3, 2025
TRAVER, C.J.
Ahmed Taha (“Former Husband”) appeals the trial court’s final divorce judgment. We reverse in part because the trial court disregarded a binding equitable distribution stipulation Former Husband and Noha Hussein Hassan (“Former Wife”) reached at trial.1
2
After a long-term marriage, the parties had few assets and substantial liabilities. Former Husband’s student loans for dental school comprised much of this debt. On the day of trial, the parties stipulated that they would each bear their own debts and maintain their own assets. The trial court confirmed this stipulation with each party and accepted it. The parties did not argue over equitable distribution at trial. But the trial court ordered Former Husband to make an equalizing payment to Former Wife because he dissipated assets during the parties’ divorce.
We review de novo whether the parties’ stipulation prevented the trial court from taking this action. See Holcombe v. City of Naples/Johns E. Co., 328 So. 3d 311, 314–15 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021). We find that it did because “[a] stipulation properly entered into and relating to a matter upon which it is appropriate to stipulate is binding upon the parties and upon the Court.” Gunn Plumbing, Inc. v. Dania Bank, 252 So. 2d 1, 4 (Fla. 1971); see also Yeakle v. Yeakle, 12 So. 3d 884, 885–86 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). The parties’ stipulation was unambiguous and required no clarification or modification. See Yeakle, 12 So. 3d at 886; Steiner v. Steiner, 638 So. 2d 174, 175 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)). We therefore reverse the trial court’s imposition of an equalizing payment and remand for its exclusion. This action does not require a further hearing. See Socol v. Socol, 291 So. 3d 594, 596 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).
3
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and DISMISSED in part; with instructions.
MIZE and GANNAM, JJ., concur.
Jeffrey V. Mansell, of Burlington & Rockenbach, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Jeffrey A. Miller and Sander L. Miller, of Miller Law, Boca Raton, for Appellant.
Noha Hussein Hassan, Mobile, Alabama, pro se.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Gunn Plumbing, Inc. v. The Dania Bank, 252 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1971)
- Carola Yeakle v. Yeakle, 12 So. 3d 884 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
- Socol v. Socol, 291 So. 3d 594 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)