Cooley v. Cooley, 80-780
| Decision Date | 17 February 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-780,80-780 |
| Citation | 409 So.2d 533 |
| Parties | Carolyn Jean COOLEY, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Fleming Blackwell COOLEY, III, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
This matter has been considered on the husband's petition for rehearing directed to this court's previous opinion filed December 23, 1981. The opinion of December 23, 1981, is hereby withdrawn.
This is an appeal by the wife from a final judgment of dissolution of marriage, along with a cross-appeal by the husband. The parties were married for approximately 22 years. Three children were born of the marriage who were adults at the time of the dissolution. The wife was a dental hygienist and the husband a dentist. The wife assisted the husband by working to further his education and, when not engaged in raising the children, the wife worked intermittently. Her earnings, although minimal, went into a joint account. At the time of the dissolution of marriage, the husband had substantial assets in his own name and a profitable dental professional association producing substantial income. A simple comparison shows the husband was in a far superior financial position to the wife with most of the assets held in his name. The only substantial joint asset was the marital residence.
By virtue of the appeal and cross-appeal, both parties contest most of the financial provisions of the judgment regarding alimony. We conclude that the court erred in certain respects to the prejudice of the wife and reverse.
The trial court awarded the wife the husband's interest in the marital homeplace as lump sum alimony. The house was valued at approximately $70,000 with an outstanding balance on the mortgage of approximately $38,000 leaving an equity of $32,000. Thus, the award to the wife represented some $16,000 in lump sum alimony if and when the house is sold. In addition, the trial court awarded permanent periodic alimony to the wife in the amount of $1,000 per month for the first year but automatically reduced this amount thereafter. In Garrison v. Garrison, 380 So.2d 473 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980), this court found progressive reductions in alimony to be improper and ordered permanent periodic alimony where it was not shown that...
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