Lanier v. Lanier, 91-1156

• Citation: 594 So.2d 809
• Decision Date: 11 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-1156,91-1156
• Parties: 17 Fla. L. Weekly D477 Marie H. LANIER, Appellant, v. Robert M. LANIER, Jr., Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)

Page 809

594 So.2d 809

17 Fla. L. Weekly D477

Marie H. LANIER, Appellant, v. Robert M. LANIER, Jr., Appellee.

No. 91-1156.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Feb. 11, 1992.

David B. Lee, Jr., of Lee, Hallowes & Green, Orange Park, for appellant.

Richard R. Townsend, of Kopelousos, Head, Smith, Townsend & Metcalf, Orange Park, for appellee.

SHIVERS, Judge.

The sole issue in this dissolution action is whether the trial court erred in awarding the wife rehabilitative alimony and not permanent periodic alimony. We reverse.

The 25-year marriage of appellant, Marie H. Lanier, and appellee, Robert M. Lanier, Jr., was dissolved by final judgment dated March 27, 1991. At the time of the divorce, the wife was 43 and the husband 47 years old, both in generally good health. At the time of filing the petition for dissolution, the wife, who already had an A.A. degree, was a full-time student expecting to receive her B.A. degree in elementary education in Spring 1992. She will need no further training to teach. She testified that a full-time beginning teacher's salary is about $20,000 and acknowledged that jobs in her field are available, presumably at the beginning of the school year following her graduation. During the marriage, she worked 9-10 years as a medical secretary. The husband paid for her education during the marriage, and as a college student she was entirely dependent on the husband for support.

The parties separated in October 1990. At the time of dissolution, the husband earned about $50,000 gross annual salary. He has a high-school education and Air Force technical schooling in computers. In the petition for dissolution, the wife sought, among other things, rehabilitative alimony to complete her education, and permanent periodic alimony based on the husband's marital infidelity and alleged "outrageous conduct" and squandering of marital assets during the affair. See Section 61.08(1), Florida Statutes (1989) (court may consider circumstances of spouse's adultery in determining amount of alimony, if any); Enfinger v. Enfinger, 566 So.2d 261, 263 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990).

The final judgment ordered the husband to pay rehabilitative alimony of $700 every two weeks, commencing March 29, 1991, and continuing through August 1992 or until the death of the husband or wife, or remarriage of the wife, whichever first occurs, and $230 every two weeks ($500 per month) thereafter as additional rehabilitative alimony, commencing on the first payday in September 1992 and continuing in that amount for thirty-six months or until the death of the husband or wife, or remarriage of the wife, which first occurs. It appears that the reduction in alimony payments, to occur on the first payday in September 1992, is based on the wife's testimony that teaching positions are available in her field, that she will have her teaching credentials by the time schools open in Fall 1992, and that her financial picture will change then. See Rao v. Rao, 501 So.2d 38 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1986) (automatic reduction in alimony may be upheld when precisely drawn and conditioned upon a specifically identified occurrence); Antonini v. Antonini, 473 So.2d 739 (1st DCA 1985), rev. den., 484 So.2d 7 (Fla.1986); Hitt v. Hitt, 571 So.2d 79 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). The wife was awarded sole ownership of the marital home, valued at more than $80,000 with an equity of about $35,000 and payments of $554. She also received certain household furnishings, a paid-for 1984 car, and $12,500 from a savings account. The husband received $10,000 in savings, his $16,000 IRA, his profit-sharing and pension plan, and retirement program. He was required to pay the wife's $136 monthly COBRA insurance premiums through August 1992.

The Supreme Court of Florida stated in Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197 (Fla.1980), that the former spouse's needs and necessities of life are to be determined as they were established during the marriage. Id. at 1201. The prior standard of living used to determine support generally is that last shared by the spouses. Pfaffko v. Pfaffko, 559 So.2d 1204 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1990). Rehabilitative alimony is intended to "establish the capacity for self-support of the receiving spouse, either through the redevelopment of previous skills or provision of the training necessary to develop potential supportive skills." Canakaris, 382 So.2d at 1202. Thus, rehabilitative alimony is proper only where the evidence suggests "that the wife can be rehabilitated to a financial stature that would permit her to become self-supporting." Allison v. Allison, 491 So.2d 1201, 1202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).

Although the wife's salary as a teacher is likely to rise in the ensuing years, it is...