STEPHEN BLASS, APPELLANT,
v.
SUSAN C. BLASS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1975-07-22
Nos. 74-1620, 74-1623
Before PEARSON, HENDRY and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
316 So. 2d 308 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1975) Caution
Cited by 26 cases

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.

Synopsis

In this consolidated dissolution of marriage appeal, the Florida District Court of Appeal reviewed a divorce judgment and attorney's fee award. The court struck down a provision making the ex-wife an irrevocable beneficiary of the ex-husband's life insurance policies as improper alimony, upheld the requirement for medical insurance coverage, and remanded the custody determination for a full evidentiary hearing to determine the children's best interests.


Holding

The court reversed the provision making Susan an irrevocable beneficiary of Stephen's life insurance policies as improper alimony. The court affirmed the requirement for major medical insurance and the attorney's fee award. The court remanded the custody determination for a new evidentiary hearing to determine permanent custody based on the children's best interests. The court held that if permanent custody is awarded to Susan, she would be entitled to permanent alimony; if awarded to Stephen, the rehabilitative alimony would stand.


Headnotes

[1] A provision requiring a party to name the other party as an irrevocable beneficiary of life insurance policies after death is an unauthorized award of alimony from and af…

[2] A court may require a party to provide a major medical insurance policy for the other party as a less expensive alternative to paying medical expenses directly.

Previewing 2 of 6 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

Key Quotes

“This provision was tantamount to an award of alimony from and after the death of appellant should he die within the five year period and, therefore, improper and unauthorized.”

Establishes that making the ex-wife an irrevocable beneficiary of life insurance policies constitutes improper extension of alimony beyond death.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Stephen and Susan Blass divorced on June 13, 1974. The trial court awarded Stephen temporary custody of two minor children until the end of the 1974-1…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

In these consolidated appeals, respondent, ex-husband, and petitioner, ex-wife, seek review of certain provisions of a dissolution of marriage judgment and order awarding attorney’s fees.

On June 13, 1974 the chancellor entered a final judgment dissolving the bonds of marriage between the petitioner, Susan Blass, and the respondent, Stephen Blass. Custody of the two minor children was awarded to Stephen until the end of the 1974-1975 school year along with exclusive occupancy of the marital residence for one year. Susan was awarded rehabilitative alimony of $1,500 per month for five years. Stephen was ordered to provide Susan with a major medical insurance policy for a period of five years and to establish her for five years as the irrevocable beneficiary of two life insurance policies. After an evidentiary hearing, the chancellor entered a post decretal order directing Stephen to pay Susan’s attorney $8,000 of the $9,500 fee awarded to him. Stephen Blass appeals therefrom and Susan Blass cross-appeals therefrom.

Appellant, Stephen Blass, first claims the chancellor erred in ordering him to establish Susan as the irrevocable beneficiary of his two life insurance policies. We agree.

This provision was tantamount to an award of alimony from and after the death of appellant should he die within the five year period and, therefore, improper and unauthorized. See Wilbur v. Wilbur, Fla.App.1974, 299 So. 2d 99. Thus, we hereby strike this provision from the judgment.

Appellant next argues that the chancellor committed error in directing him to provide Susan for a period of five years with a major medical insurance policy. This point lacks merit.

We find no error in the provision for medical insurance as the chancellor appropriately could have required appellant to pay major medical expenses and the furnishing of an insurance policy to cover the costs could be a less expensive alternative. See Lyons v. Lyons, Fla.App.1968, 208 So. 2d 137.

We now turned our consideration to the cross-appeal of Susan Blass who first contends that the chancellor erred in failing to grant her permanent custody of the minor children.

We conclude that the award of custody of the children to the father, Stephen Blass, until the end of the current 1974-1975 school year, which already has terminated, simply was a grant of temporary custody. The evidence as to which parent should have permanent custody being insufficient, we remand the cause to the trial court with directions to conduct a full evidentiary hearing de novo with respect thereto and based upon the evidence presented, determine which parent should be awarded permanent custody to best serve the interests and welfare of the two minor children. In addition, even though the father was awarded temporary custody, this should not raise a presumption that he is a more fit parent than the mother. We find it necessary at this juncture to discuss the award of rehabilitative alimony which appellant contends is excessive and which appellee argues is inadequate.

In light of our disposition of the custody issue, we hold that should the chancellor award permanent custody of the children to the mother, Susan Blass, then she would be entitled to permanent alimony as she primarily would be engaged in the full time task of providing a proper home and environment in which to raise her children. See, e. g. Goldstein v. Goldstein, Fla.App.1975, 310 So. 2d 361. On the other hand, should custody be continued permanently in the respondent father, then the rehabilitative alimony award should stand.

Last, we considered the contention of Susan Blass on cross-appeal that the chancellor’s order awarding her partial costs and attorney’s fees was erroneous.

After a review of the record on appeal, we cannot say the chancellor abused his discretion in this matter. Thus, this point is without merit. See Oncay v. Oncay, Fla.App.1966, 183 So. 2d 878.

For the reasons stated, the judgment appealed is affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent herewith.

It is so ordered.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (13 total)

  • Colucci v. Colucci, 392 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
    …d, 357 So. 2d 186 (Fla.1978); McNaughton v. McNaughton, 332 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 345 So. 2d 424 (Fla.1977); Yohem v. Yohem, 324 So. 2d 160 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); King v. King, 316 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); Blass v. Blass, 316 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Lash v. Lash, 307 So. 2d 241 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Reback v. Reback, 296 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), cert. denied, 312 So. 2d 737 (Fla.1975); see, Kvittem v. Kvittem, 365 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978) (no indication that existi…
  • Martinez v. Martinez, 573 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
    …ore the entry of final judgment. See, e.g., Bowles v. Bowles, 384 So. 2d 299, 300-301 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980) (non-final order awarding wife temporary custody of the children pending final dissolution proper and should not be disturbed); Blass v. Blass, 316 So. 2d 308, 309 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975) (where evidence as to which parent should have permanent custody was insufficient, trial court’s award of temporary custody of the children upheld and case remanded for* a full eviden-tiary hearing de novo to determine which…
  • Miller v. Miller, 466 So. 2d 356 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)
    …rder a former husband to pay a reasonable amount for medical insurance premiums for the wife as part of an alimony award. Inglett v. Inglett, 439 So. 2d 1389 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Cyphers v. Cyphers, 373 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Blass v. Blass, 316 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). The husband does not argue that he is unable to obtain medical insurance at a reasonable cost, rather he claims that the requirement that he pay all of the wife’s medical and dental costs not covered by insurance and regardless o…

Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw