Moses v. Moses
| Decision Date | 27 April 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76--1638,76--1638 |
| Citation | 344 So.2d 1322 |
| Parties | Carolyn S. MOSES, Appellant, v. Henry E. MOSES, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Franklyn J. Wollett, and Crockett Farnell, of Nixon & Farnell, Clearwater, for appellant.
John T. Blakely, of Johnson, Blakely, Pope & Bokor, Clearwater, for appellee.
In this dissolution of marriage proceeding appellant/wife contends the trial court's award of alimony was inadequate. As relates to the amount of rehabilitative alimony awarded, we agree; otherwise we affirm the trial court.
Essentially, the facts are these: The parties married in 1957 and have two children, ages eight and fifteen, who will be in the wife's custody. The husband is forty-one and the wife forty-two. The husband is an engineer with an annual salary of approximately $23,000. The wife has a high school education, plus a year of night school. She was a secretary for a few years after she married; however, she was not employed from 1961 until 1975. Recently she has been performing some part-time clerical and bookkeeping work for which she has received minimal sums.
The wife's stated objective is to obtain a nursing degree through a two-year course at a community college where she has already enrolled to update her educational background. She estimated the nursing program would require an outlay of $1320 in addition to her ordinary living expenses. If she successfully completes the nursing course, she anticipates that once employed she would command a salary between $8,000 and $10,000 per year.
The parties own their home jointly. It is valued at approximately $17,500 and is encumbered by a mortgage of $5,420, payable at $68 per month. The court awarded the wife exclusive possession of the home place until the younger child attains majority or until the wife remarries. In the meantime, the husband and wife are each required to pay one-half of the mortgage payments, insurance, and maintenance expenses. The court awarded child support of $150 per month per child, and required the husband to continue medical insurance for the children as long as it is available to him on a group basis from his employer. Beyond the home place, their assets were modest; however, the parties were relatively free from debts beyond the mortgage. Upon dissolution, they became tenants in common of their jointly owned securities worth approximately $7,500. Each was awarded one of their two automobiles.
The wife sought permanent and rehabilitative alimony; however, she was awarded only $100 per month rehabilitative alimony for thirty months. The husband was required to pay $84.50 court costs and to contribute $450 toward the wife's attorney's fees.
Appellant contends the award of rehabilitative alimony is inadequate. Moreover, she claims the trial court should have granted her not only periodic permanent alimony but also should have awarded her the marital home as lump-sum alimony. Finally, she says the court erred in not requiring the husband to maintain medical insurance for the children irrespective of its continued availability to him on a group basis through his employer.
It is well settled that the law vests broad discretion in a trial judge in determining amounts required for alimony and support. Absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion, the judgment of a trial...
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Strollo v. Strollo, JJ-70
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