Barbieri v. Barbieri, 89-1884

• Decision Date: 12 February 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-1884,89-1884
• Parties: 16 Fla. L. Weekly 460 Sam BARBIERI, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Patricia BARBIERI, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 640

582 So.2d 640

16 Fla. L. Weekly 460

Sam BARBIERI, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Patricia BARBIERI, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

No. 89-1884.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

Third District.

Feb. 12, 1991.

Greene & Marks, and Cynthia L. Greene, Fred M. Dellapa, Miami, for appellant/cross-appellee.

Richard W. Aschenbrenner, Miami, for appellee/cross-appellant.

Before HUBBART, COPE and LEVY, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The husband appeals, and the wife cross-appeals, from a final judgment of dissolution awarding lump sum and rehabilitative alimony and child support. We affirm.

The parties were divorced in 1989 after a 21 year marriage. At the time of the dissolution, there was one minor child remaining at home. The wife, who had spent most of the marriage as a homemaker, has now started a college program with the intent of becoming a preschool teacher. The husband is a master plumber with his own business.

The husband contests the awarding of his one-half interest in the marital home to the wife as lump sum alimony. As noted in Diffenderfer v. Diffenderfer, 491 So.2d 265 (Fla.1986), the court in Canakaris ¹ "broadened the spectrum of remedies at the trial court's disposal by recognizing a novel use of lump sum alimony." 491 So.2d at 267. The court created the hybrid remedy of lump sum alimony based on concepts of both property distribution and traditional alimony. Thus, a trial court is permitted to use a lump sum distribution in lieu of, or in addition to, periodic or rehabilitative alimony. De La Guardia v. De La Guardia, 536 So.2d 1115 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Wellman v. Wellman, 504 So.2d 531 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Robertson v. Robertson, 473 So.2d 24 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). The trial court's award in this case was permissible since the husband has a greater earning capacity and he received the wife's interest in the plumbing business. Given the wife's lower earning potential, the lump sum award appears to be an effective substitute for permanent periodic alimony to the wife, which otherwise would have been required, given her age, education, and work history. ²

Secondly, the husband complains that the trial court's award of rehabilitative alimony and child support amounts to 74 percent of his income. We reject this argument upon the finding that the record reflects, and the husband conceded at oral argument, that the health insurance which the husband is required to maintain for the benefit of the minor daughter, and which he included as a direct cost to himself, is in fact paid for by his corporation in pre-tax dollars. When the insurance premium amount is deducted from...