Doyle v. Doyle, 5D00-2406.
| Decision Date | 13 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D00-2406.,5D00-2406. |
| Parties | Shelley Surber DOYLE, Appellant, v. Louis Francis DOYLE, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Catherine G. Swain of Catherine G. Swain, P.A., Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
James R. Clayton of Clayton & Teal, P.A., Deland, for Appellee.
Shelly Doyle (wife) appeals the final order entered by the trial court in this dissolution of marriage proceeding. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Neither the wife nor Louis Doyle (husband) challenges the trial court's rulings related to the dissolution of their marriage, child custody, visitation, or child support; therefore, the rulings thereon are affirmed. However, the wife contends that the trial court made mathematical errors which require remand for reconsideration of the issues of alimony and equitable distribution. We agree.
In making financial awards in dissolution proceedings, the trial court possesses broad discretionary authority to do equity between the parties. Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197, 1202 (Fla. 1980). This court, in reviewing a dissolution judgment, must examine the judgment as a whole in determining whether the trial court abused its discretion; piecemeal review is prohibited. Hamlet v. Hamlet, 583 So.2d 654, 657 (Fla.1991). However, notwithstanding the trial court's wide discretion in dissolution matters, this court must correct mathematical errors made by the trial court. Noone v. Noone, 727 So.2d 972, 974 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).
The wife first contends that the trial court erred by mischaracterizing her $9,663.15 in pre-dissolution attorney's fees as marital debts, distributing all of the marital debt except the mortgage on the marital home to the husband as part of its equitable distribution scheme, and then ordering the wife to pay all of her own attorney's fees. She contends that, by ordering her to pay her own attorney's fees, the trial court reduced the amount of marital debt which the husband was ordered to assume, thereby skewing the equitable distribution in his favor. The husband responds that his understanding of the trial court's final order is that he is responsible for paying the wife's pre-dissolution attorney's fees, and that the language in the trial court's final order regarding attorney's fees only applies to fees which the wife incurred after the date of dissolution. In light of the husband's concession that he is financially responsible for paying the wife's pre-dissolution attorney's fees, the wife's claim of error is rejected. However, upon remand, the final judgment must be clarified to reflect that the husband is responsible for $9.663.15 in attorney's fees incurred by the wife prior to the date the final dissolution order was entered.
The wife next contends that the trial court improperly overstated the parties' total marital debt by $5,110.00, based upon an error in her financial affidavit which listed one of the husband's nonmarital obligations as being a marital debt. The husband responds by acknowledging the calculation error but arguing that, in the overall distribution plan, "said error is insignificant." In a related claim, the wife argues that, in calculating the parties' net worth, the trial court mistakenly duplicated a $12,072.00 marital debt. She contends that the court utilized the net value of the husband's 401K plan, after the loan against that 401K plan was deducted, in calculating the total value of the parties' assets but then listed the loan as a separate liability, resulting in an improper decrease in the net value of marital assets. The wife further argues that the trial court committed reversible error when, although indicating in its final order that the court intended to award the wife more than fifty percent of the marital estate and then denying her request for alimony "due to inequitable distribution of assets and debts/liabilities of the parties," the court actually awarded the husband more than fifty percent of the marital estate as a result of the calculation errors referenced above. We agree. Given the parties' agreement that the $5,110.00 calculation error occurred, coupled with our determination that the evidence of record demonstrates that the court erroneously duplicated the $12,072.00 marital debt and the husband was awarded more than fifty percent of the marital estate, remand to the trial court is necessary for reconsideration of its entire equitable distribution scheme. On remand, the trial court must reconsider its equitable distribution plan in light of its stated intent of providing the wife with more than fifty percent of the marital property in lieu of an award of alimony. See Kelley v. Kelley, 667 So.2d 215 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). In addition to reconsidering its equitable distribution plan, the trial court must also revisit whether an alimony award, either lump sum or permanent periodic, is appropriate for the wife.1
The wife next argues that the trial court erred in failing to require the husband to contribute to her attorney's fees beyond the $9,663.15 referenced above. Pursuant to section 61.16 of the Florida Statutes (1999), the trial court can award attorney's fees to a party in a dissolution proceeding "after considering the financial resources of both parties." The court is permitted to take into account the earning ability of both spouses, the amount of marital assets and liabilities distributed to each spouse, and the liquidity of the assets distributed. Wilkerson v. Wilkerson, 623 So.2d 1192 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). Whether to grant an award of attorney's fees is a matter within the trial court's sound discretion; therefore, absent a showing of abuse of that discretion, the decision cannot be reversed. Bloodwell v. Bloodwell, 508 So.2d 771 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). Here, since the equitable distribution is to be adjusted upon remand, the trial court should at that time also reconsider whether, based upon changes made in the equitable distribution of the parties' property, any change must be made in the parties' responsibility for paying attorney's fees.
The wife next argues that the trial court erred in failing to award her child support and alimony arrearages. We agree. The undisputed record evidence...
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