JOSEPH REY, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
ELAINE M. REY, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
A Florida appellate court reversed a judgment requiring a husband to repay his wife approximately $47,799 for funds she advanced during their ten-year marriage, holding that financial contributions during marriage are presumptively gifts rather than loans and that permitting repayment claims would undermine the unity concept of marriage.
Financial contributions by one spouse to another during marriage should be presumed to be gifts rather than loans, and to the extent the trial court awarded the wife a judgment against the husband for 'loans' made during the marriage, such judgment must be reversed. The marital relationship is not a business partnership requiring accounting of financial contributions at dissolution.
[1] Financial contributions made by one spouse to another during a marriage are presumed to be gifts, not loans, absent evidence to the contrary.
[2] A marital relationship is not a business partnership requiring an accounting of financial contributions upon dissolution.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A financial contribution by the wife should be interpreted as being within the realm of 'ordinary marital duties' or a prima facie presumption of a gift. Such presumption must be considered to be a reciprocal presumption— each partner should be presumed to have made a gift to the other based upon the marital relationship.”
Establishes the presumption that financial contributions during marriage are gifts rather than loans, citing precedent from Steinhauer v. Steinhauer.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe wife was the primary breadwinner and financial provider throughout a ten-year marriage, advancing funds to her husband for both personal and busin…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Special Equity cases and more on FLexlaw
This is an appeal by the husband from a final judgment entered in a dissolution of marriage proceeding wherein the trial court awarded the wife $47,798.95. Upon petition of the appellee-wife the trial court found the marriage was irretrievably broken and concluded in effect that the amounts of money advanced by the wife to her husband during their ten-year marriage were “loans” rather than “gifts” and thus the wife was entitled to recover all such monies advanced less certain deductions.
From a review of the facts we are confronted with a situation where the wife was the “breadwinner,” so to speak, and the sole provider; the husband appearing to occupy what might normally be classified as the subservient role. Had the situation been reversed and it was the husband who was seeking repayment of monies advanced it is doubtful that he would be entitled to a judgment against his wife for all of the funds that he may have “loaned her” during the lifetime of the marriage whether such “loans” were for his wife’s business purposes or for other luxuries or needs.
The marital relationship, although classified as a “partnership” in terms of demonstrating the equality of the individuals involved, was never intended to be a “partnership” in the ordinary business sense where each party is required “to give an accounting” at the termination of the relationship. This court expressed it rather succinctly in Steinhauer v. Steinhauer, Fla.App.1971, 252 So.2d 825, when we observed :
“ . . . A financial contribution by the wife should be interpreted as being within the realm of 'ordinary marital duties’ or a prima facie presumption of a gift. Such presumption must be considered to be a reciprocal presumption— each partner should be presumed to have made a gift to the other based upon the marital relationship.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Invariably there have been and there will continue to be situations where one of the marital partners will dominate the financial affairs; traditionally it has been the husband. But the fact that the financial *362wherewithal and acumen is possessed by the wife does not of itself entitle her to some special “reward” or recognition for her contributions when the marital relationship disintegrates.
We do not overlook the fact that the wife, in the instant case, was exceedingly generous to her husband in providing him with the necessary funds for personal and business purposes. His role may have been, as the trial court characterized it, a “free ride” and the funds which the wife advanced during the marital relationship were funds which she borrowed from a lending institution and had to repay.
Yet, notwithstanding the foregoing, it is somehow degrading to the marital relationship and to the institution of marriage itself to see a dissolution degenerate into a battle between accountants where the spoils go to the better bookkeeper. There is a marked distinction between a circumstance where a special equity is being sought in a tangible asset because the contribution to the acquisition of that asset was above and beyond the ordinary marital duties and the circumstance where one marital partner is permitted to receive a judgment against another marital partner for “loans” made during the marital relationship. The latter situation is totally incompatible to the unity concept of marriage.
To affirm the money judgment would in our opinion constitute an approval of the disintegration of this concept. Accordingly, to the extent that the wife has been awarded a judgment against the husband for the “loans” she made during the lifetime of the marriage, the final judgment is reversed.
Reversed.
WALDEN, J., concurs.
CROSS, J., dissents without opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (13 total)
-
Kalmutz v. Kalmutz, 299 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)…thin the limits of her needs, his financial ability and the standards established by himself during the marriage. Royal v. Royal, Fla.App.1972, 263 So. 2d 277; but see Steinhauer v. Steinhauer, Fla.App.1971, 252 So. 2d 825; Rey v. Rey, Fla.App.1973, 279 So. 2d 360; Hanzelik v. Hanzelik, Fla.App.1974, 294 So. 2d 116; Yohem v. Yohem, Fourth District Court of Appeal, 295 So. 2d 656, opinion filed June 7, 1974. As a general principle an alimony award may be modified where there has been a showing of a substantia…
-
Murphy v. Murphy, 370 So. 2d 403 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)…g asset, i. e., the said purchase money mortgage, which asset was intact at the time that suit was commenced, as [*409] distinguished from a recovery of monies received by the Husband from the Wife’s properties before suit was commenced. Rey v. Rey, 279 So. 2d 360 (4th DCA, 1973).” [Emphasis supplied] On March 14, 1978, the husband filed a notice of appeal from the final judgment but after the order setting supersedeas bond had been entered the husband did not post supersedeas. On March 29, 1978, the wife fi…
-
Madge P. Ball v. Ball, 303 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)…property was acquired in similar manner from the husband’s funds. On subsequent occasions the Fourth District Court has reaffirmed the principles of Steinhauer. E.g. Davis v. Davis, Fla.App. 4th, 1973, 282 So. 2d 655; Rey v. Rey, Fla.App. 4th, 1973, 279 So. 2d 360. We believe there can be little doubt that Steinhauer properly states the current law with respect to these presumptions. As related to the instant case, since property rights are affected, it is important to determine when the presumption of a res…
Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Emil Rossodivita v. The King's Surf Ltd., 252 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)
- Steinhauer v. Lossie S. Steinhauer, 252 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)