MAUREEN H. SNIFFEN, APPELLANT,
v.
JOHN M. SNIFFEN, 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.
In a dissolution of marriage case, the trial court found that a September 1975 agreement between the Sniffens was void due to duress and coercion, but inconsistently refused to set aside the deed conveying the marital home that resulted from that invalid agreement. The appellate court reversed the property disposition portions and remanded for the trial court to set aside the deed creating the tenancy by the entireties.
The trial court properly found the September 1975 agreement null and void based on duress and coercion. However, the court erred by refusing to set aside the deed creating the tenancy by the entireties, as that deed was a direct product of the invalid agreement and should have been voided along with it. The court also lacked authority to order the sale of the marital home absent a pleading for partition or agreement to do so.
[1] An agreement entered into during a marriage may be deemed null and void if it lacks requisite consideration or was obtained through duress or coercion.
[2] A deed that is the product of an invalid agreement should be set aside along with the agreement.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“said agreement lacked the requisite consideration and/or was obtained through duress or coercion”
The trial court's finding that the September 1975 agreement was void, which the appellate court upheld as having adequate support in the record.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMaureen Sniffen (age 34) and John Sniffen (age 72) remarried in April 1975 after being previously married and divorced in 1965-1966. In September 1975…
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 Tenancy By The Entirety cases and more on FLexlaw
DOWNEY, Judge.
Mr. Sniffen, age 72 at the time of trial, married Mrs. Sniffen, age 34 at the time of trial, in April 1975. They had been married previously in 1965 and divorced in 1966. The parties entered into an agreement in September 1975, wherein Mrs. Sniffen agreed to “release” to Mr. Sniffen $135,000 worth of bonds; and Mr. Sniffen agreed to give Mrs. Sniffen $115,000 worth of bonds, 1823 shares of assorted stocks, a substantial amount of cash, plus a “Deed to house to be jointly owned and in both names.” Pursuant to that understanding, Mr. Sniffen executed a deed that transferred title to the marital domicile to both parties as tenants by the entireties. On March 8, 1976, Mr. Sniffen filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. Thereafter, Mrs. Sniffen also filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. Upon the motion of Mr. Sniffen the actions were consolidated.
At trial, Mr. Sniffen contended that Mrs. Sniffen had unlawfully obtained possession of many of his shares of stock and bonds and refused to release them to him unless he executed the agreement referred to above. He contended further that the agreement of September 1975 was obtained by Mrs. Sniffen through coercion and duress, and that the marital domicile should be awarded to him.
In the final judgment appealed from the trial court found that the agreement of September 1975 was null and void on the grounds that: “said agreement lacked the requisite consideration and/or was obtained through duress or coercion.” Based on that finding the judgment provided: “[a]ll stocks and bonds with the attached coupons are to be the sole property of the Petitioner, inclusive of the Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) in Bearer Bonds in the possession of the Respondent.” The judgment also found that Mr. Sniffen had a special equity in the marital home because “he has contributed diverse amounts of money towards the purchase, acquisition and/or maintainance of said property”. However, in the decretal portion of the judgment, the trial judge directed that the marital domicile be sold and that the parties equally divide the proceeds or that Mr. Sniffen could purchase Mrs. Sniffen’s one-half interest at market value.
With regard to the main appeal filed by Mrs. Sniffen, we have determined that there is adequate support in the record for the finding that the agreement of September 1975 was obtained by duress and coercion. In addition, we find no merit to Mrs. Sniffen’s other suggestions of error. Mr. Sniffen has cross assigned as error (a) the failure of the trial court to set aside the deed creating the estate by the entire-ties; (b) the trial court’s direction that the marital home be sold and the proceeds divided between the parties; and (c) the trial court’s award of lump sum and rehabilitative alimony to Mrs. Sniffen.
It appears to us the final judgment is inconsistent in some respects. If Mr. Sniffen had a special equity in the marital domicile, then Mrs. Sniffen would not be entitled to one-half of the proceeds of the sale thereof. But in any event, the court had no authority to order a sale of said property. There was no pleading basis for partition and no agreement that the court should do so. Niemann v. Niemann, 294 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974).
A further inconsistency appears in the trial court’s adjudication that the agreement of September 1975 was null and void and its refusal to set aside the deed creating the estate by the entireties. That deed was the product of the invalid agreement, and therefore it should have gone the way of the agreement.
Accordingly, Paragraph 6 of the findings portion of the final judgment finding a special equity in the husband is vacated. Paragraph 6 of the decretal part of the judgment directing a sale of the marital domicile located at 1621 Southwest 5th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is reversed. The cause is remanded to the trial court with directions that it amend the final judgment by setting aside the deed which created the estate by the entireties.
In all other respects the final judgment is affirmed.
DAUKSCH and LETTS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Zeller v. Zeller, 396 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)…n the basis of an agreement of the parties or on the basis of an appropriately pleaded prayer for partition. See also, Muhlrad v. Muhlrad, 375 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1979); Stetson v. Stetson, 356 So. 2d 53 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Sniffen v. Sniffen, 352 So. 2d 113 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977). The only pleadings which conceivably could have supported the partition order were those of the husband wherein he requested that the parties’ joint property and other property rights be adjusted and determined. This is precisel…
-
Sniffen v. Century Nat'l Bank OF Broward, 375 So. 2d 892 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)…and the cause remanded with directions to deny the motion to dismiss the complaint and for further proceedings consistent herewith. Reversed and remanded. BERANEK, J., and DAUKSCH, JAMES C., Jr., Associate Judge, concur. . See Sniffen v. Sniffen, 352 So. 2d 113 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977). . For this reason, it is unnecessary to discuss separately the question of whether the exculpatory clause is sufficiently “clear and unequivocal” to preclude recovery for the bank’s own negligence. See Orkin Exterminating Co. v…
-
Smith v. Treva E. Smith and Gary Hale, 375 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)…he consideration, appears valid and enforceable, we find that it, in fact, is ineffective to convey the husband’s interest to the wife under the specific facts of the cause. Cf. Williams v. Foerster, 335 So. 2d 810 (Fla.1976) and Sniffen v. Stiffen, 352 So. 2d 113 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977). It follows, therefore, that if the deed from husband to wife is ineffective to convey his interest in the homestead, the wife’s subsequent quit claim deed to Hale is ineffective in that she was attempting to transfer appellant’…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Niemann v. Niemann, 294 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)