PAUL V. LITTLE, APPELLANT,
v.
JOYCE E. LITTLE, 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 husband appealed the trial court's denial of his petition for dissolution of marriage filed just nine days after marrying the respondent. The First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the trial court erred in completely dismissing the petition without allowing a reconciliation period as required by statute.
The trial court erred in completely dismissing the petition rather than continuing the case with directions for the parties to attempt reconciliation for at least 90 days. If reconciliation attempts fail, the trial court must grant the dissolution petition unless stronger evidence of conspiracy between the two husbands is shown, in which case alimony may be awarded to the appellee for amounts lost due to the second marriage.
[1] A trial court errs in dismissing a petition for dissolution of marriage when there is no competent evidence that the marriage is irretrievably broken, other than a party'…
[2] A trial court should continue a dissolution of marriage case with directions for parties to attempt reconciliation for at least 90 days when the marriage is not irretriev…
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“There is definitely no competent evidence from which the trial court could determine at that time that the marriage was irretrievably broken, other than the appellant's statement to that fact.”
Establishes that the trial court lacked sufficient evidentiary basis to deny the dissolution petition outright.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePaul and Joyce Little married on January 27, 1973, and separated on February 5, 1973. The petition for dissolution was filed on February 7, 1973, just…
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 Reconciliation cases and more on FLexlaw
JOHNSON, Judge.
This is an appeal from an Order denying the appellant’s petition for dissolution of marriage and dismissing the same.
The material facts, to which we think we must relate the action of the trial court and the decision of this Court, are as follows :
The parties were married on January 27, 1973, and separated on February 5, 1973. Petition for dissolution of marriage was filed on February 7,1973.
In order that we can get the gist of what might or might not be the underlying reason for this marriage in the first place and the resultant attempt of dissolution of the marriage just 9 days later, we need to read the answer of appellee wherein she alleges that appellant knew in advance that she was drawing alimony payments of $200.00 per month from her former husband, which would be terminated by remarriage. Also, it appears from the question by defense counsel (although the plaintiff denied it) that there was some skulduggery between the appellant and the former husband — the indication being that maybe the appellant had some understanding about just how the appellee could be cut off of alimony from her first husband and not be married long enough to the appellant to warrant the court awarding appellee alimony on the second marriage. This could have also entered the mind of the trial court. There is definitely no competent evidence from which the trial court could determine at that time that the marriage was irretrievably broken, other than the appellant’s statement to that fact. We feel, and so hold, while there are some sketchy guidelines for the trial court to follow, we hold under the decision of this Court in Riley v. Riley, 271 So. 2d 181 (Fla.App. 1st, 1973) that the trial court was in error in completely dismissing the petition rather than continuing the case with directions from the court to each party to attempt to reconcile for at least 90 days. If at that time the trial court finds that the attempts have been made with no results, then, under the new statute, we think the Court would have no choice other than to grant the petition, provided there is no stronger evidence of conspiracy from between the first and second husband. If the conspiracy is shown to exist, then we' think the trial court would be proper in awarding alimony to the appellee in the same amount she lost as a result of her second marriage.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings, provided there is no conflict with the suggestions in this Opinion.
SPECTOR, Acting C. J., concurs.
BOYER, J., dissents.
BOYER, Judge
(dissenting).
I most reluctantly dissent. I would affirm on the basis of Ryan v. Ryan, Fla.1973, 277 So. 2d 266. Although the dismissal was “with prejudice” such would not, in my view, prohibit institution of another proceeding for dissolution on some future date when and if sufficient evidence is available, arising after the dismissal of the preceding sub judice, to sustain the petition.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Lanes v. Lanes, 454 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)…he combination of these events: (1) the husband’s repeated assurances to wife that he would not attempt to obtain a divorce, (2) the parties’ apparent, albeit some times rocky, attempt to reconcile (which is favored by the law, see Little v. Little, 298 So. 2d 474, 475 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974); Riley v. Riley, 271 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972); § 61.001(2)(a), Fla.Stat. (1983)), (3) the informal but nonetheless real abatement of the action between November, 1982, and June, 1983, and (4) the misdirection of the at…
Authorities Cited
- Ryan v. Ryan, 277 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 1973)
- Riley v. Riley, 271 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972)