KAREN HAXEL
v.
DOUGLAS HAXEL
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A spouse who was the primary income earner responsible for mortgage payments during the marriage is not entitled to a credit for continuing those payments after the parties' separation.
[1] A spouse who served as the primary income earner and was responsible for mortgage payments on the marital home during the marriage is not entitled to a credit for continu…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a court should not credit a spouse for making post-separation house payments when that spouse was the primary income earner generally responsible for paying the mortgage and other household expenses during the marriage”
The court's statement of the governing legal principle regarding post-separation mortgage payment credits in dissolution cases.
In a dissolution of marriage case, the husband received a $13,980.33 credit for mortgage payments he made on the marital home after the parties separa…
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FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 5D2024-0846 LT Case No. 2010-DR-014130 _____________________________
KAREN HAXEL,
Appellant,
v.
DOUGLAS HAXEL,
Appellee. _____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Michelle Pruitt Studstill, Judge.
Alex Finch, of Finch Legal, PLLC, Longwood, for Appellant.
Curtis N. Flajole, of Curtis N. Flajole, P.A., Rockledge, for Appellee.
January 16, 2026
PER CURIAM.
We affirm the dissolution judgment in all respects except one. Husband received a $13,980.33 credit for payments that he made on the marital home after the parties’ final separation. But a court should not credit a spouse for making post-separation house payments when that spouse was the primary income earner generally responsible for paying the mortgage and other household expenses during the marriage. See Cortese v. Cortese, 72 So. 3d 269, 269 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011); see, e.g., Kranz v. Kranz, 737 So. 2d
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED with instructions.
JAY, C.J., and WALLIS and HARRIS, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________