MAITA P. SINGER, APPELLANT (RESPONDENT/COUNTER-PETITIONER),
v.
ROBERT N. SINGER, APPELLEE (PETITIONER/COUNTER-RESPONDENT)
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In this Florida dissolution of marriage case, the appellate court partially reversed a judgment that awarded the marital home to Mrs. Singer and her two minor children for only one year, requiring her to pay all ownership expenses. The court held that the trial court abused its discretion and remanded for modification to extend housing stability for the children until the youngest reaches majority and to require equal sharing of ownership expenses between the former spouses.
The trial court abused its discretion in both respects. The court should have awarded use and occupancy to Mrs. Singer and the minor children as long as Mrs. Singer remains unmarried and until the youngest child reaches majority (or other triggering events occur), and the judgment should require the parties to pay ownership expenses equally as tenants in common.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by limiting the use and occupancy of the marital home to one year for a custodial parent and minor children.
[2] A custodial parent awarded use and occupancy of the marital home should retain possession until the youngest child reaches majority, dies, marries, or becomes no longer d…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“For children of tender age, such as those here, the dissolution of the marriage between their parents is an unsettling experience. To require them to move from their home within one year of the traumatic dissolution of marriage can only add to the children's feeling of insecurity and frustration.”
Establishes the court's reasoning that one year is insufficient housing stability for young children experiencing parental divorce.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMr. and Mrs. Singer divorced, and the trial court awarded custody of their two minor children (ages seven and five) to Mrs. Singer. Mr. Singer was ord…
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MILLS, Acting Chief Judge.
Mrs. Singer appeals from a final judgment in a dissolution of marriage action. The judgment dissolves the marriage, awards custody of two minor children to Mrs. Singer, awards child support, awards rehabilitative alimony, disposes of jointly owned personal property, and awards the use and occupancy of the marital home to Mrs. Singer and the two minor children for one year, subject to payment of the mortgage, maintenance, repairs, taxes and insurance by Mrs. Singer. Although Mrs. Singer contends the trial court committed a number of errors, it is our opinion that only one of them requires our consideration. This issue is whether the trial court erred in limiting the use and occupancy of the home to one year and in providing that Mrs. Singer pay all ownership expenses during this time.
The minor children were a male and a female, ages seven and five. For the first year, Mr. Singer was required to pay support of $200.00 a month for each child. Thereafter, he was to provide $250.00 a month for each child. Mr. Singer was required to pay rehabilitative alimony of $450.00 a month for one year. The monthly mortgage payment on the home was $246.50. The annual taxes were $598.00. After dissolution of the marriage, the home was owned as a tenancy in common.
In our judgment, the trial court abused its discretion in limiting the use and occupancy of the home by Mrs. Singer and the minor children to one year and in failing to require Mr. Singer to pay one-half of the ownership expenses on the home during its use and occupancy by Mrs. Singer and the minor children.
Although the food, medical, clothing and incidental expenses of the children are adequately provided for by the monthly support money awarded, the father is also required to provide adequate shelter. This has been done for one year only. This is inadequate. For children of tender age, such as those here, the dissolution of the marriage between their parents is an unsettling experience. To require them to move from their home within one year of the traumatic dissolution of marriage can only add to the children’s feeling of insecurity and frustration. We do not have a case here where the ability of the father to provide for the needs of his children is questionable. ' To the contrary, the record discloses that the father has the ability to provide their requirements without any sacrifice on his part. The trial court should award the use and occupancy of the home to Mrs. Singer and the minor children as long as Mrs. Singer remains unmarried and until the youngest of the children reaches majority, or the children die, or they marry, or they are no longer dependent.
The marital home became a tenancy in common upon entry of the judgment dissolving the marriage. Tenants in common have a mutual obligation to pay the charges upon the property. Mintz v. Ellison, 233 So. 2d 156 (Fla.3d DCA 1970). The equity of one of the parties should not be increased by any expenditures made by the other party. Maroun v. Maroun, 277 So. 2d 572 (Fla.3d DCA 1973). The judgment before us violates both of these principles. The judgment should provide that payments on the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and repair shall be paid equally by the parties.
So that the parties will know, we considered the other issues raised by Mrs. Singer but did not consider them in this opinion because the record shows that either they were not properly raised by the assignments of error or Mrs. Singer failed to demonstrate error by the trial court.
The final judgment is affirmed in all respects with the exception of the award of the marital home (paragraph 5 of the judgment) which is reversed. We remand this case to the trial court for appropriate action consistent with the views set forth in this opinion.
SMITH, J., and DRURY, ARVEL, Associate Judge, concur.
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Citator
Cited By (24 total)
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Mahaffey v. Mahaffey, 401 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)…r remarries. This is a frequent provision is dissolution judgments and is generally deemed to be in part a discharge of the child support obligation of the non-custodial parent. Alford v. Alford, 364 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); Singer v. Singer, 342 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); McNaughton v. McNaughton, 332 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 345 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 1977). The requirement that the wife be given credit on sale of the house for one-half of the mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, m…
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Rubino v. Rubino, 372 So. 2d 539 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…gainst the husband’s one-half of the proceeds upon the sale of the property. See Schatz v. Schatz, 356 So. 2d 892 (Fla.3d DCA 1978). It is impermissible to require the wife to increase the equity of the husband by her own payments. Singer v. Singer, 342 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). The wife here is entitled to either credit or is entitled to have the husband pay one-half of the expenses. Accordingly, the case is remanded to the trial court for clarification of the above quoted portion of the judgment in ac…
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Zeller v. Zeller, 396 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)…nine and eight years of age. Under the circumstances of this case, the trial court should have awarded the wife exclusive occupancy of the marital home until the children attain the age of majority or otherwise become emancipated. Singer v. Singer, 342 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); Dolch v. Dolch, 368 So. 2d 618 [*1179] (Fla. 2nd DCA 1979). Although the failure to award exclusive possession of the marital home unto the custodial parent until all of the children attain majority or become emancipated would n…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Mintz v. Ellison, 233 So. 2d 156 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)
- Maroun v. Ing-Marie Maroun, 277 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973)