Reynolds v. Reynolds, s. 91-2832
| Decision Date | 09 March 1993 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 91-2832,92-93,s. 91-2832 |
| Citation | 615 So.2d 243 |
| Parties | 18 Fla. L. Week. D676 James F. REYNOLDS, Appellant, v. Evelyn Faith REYNOLDS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Edward C. Vining, Jr., Miami, for appellant.
Andrew M. Leinoff, Coral Gables, for appellee.
Before NESBITT, LEVY and GERSTEN, JJ.
In this dissolution of marriage, the husband appeals the distribution of marital assets and the order that he pay 55% of the wife's attorney's fees. The wife cross-appeals claiming her attorney's fees should be paid in full by the husband.
In evaluating the marital assets of James and Evelyn Reynolds for equitable distribution purposes, the trial court, relying on the testimony of the wife's expert, adopted the figure of $173,785 for the present value of the husband's pension plan. That figure assumed that the husband would continue to work through age 62 and also included expected increases in salary in arriving at that payout amount. Because the inclusion of post-dissolution income in arriving at a value for the plan was erroneous as a matter of law, we reverse the order under review.
As has been repeatedly stated, retirement benefits are to be considered "contract rights of value received in lieu of higher compensation which would otherwise have enhanced either marital assets or the marital standard of living and, therefore, are marital property." DeLoach v. DeLoach, 590 So.2d 956, 960 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) quoting Diffenderfer v. Diffenderfer, 491 So.2d 265, 267 (Fla.1986), quoting Majauskas v. Majauskas, 61 N.Y.2d 481, 474 N.Y.S.2d 699, 704-05, 463 N.E.2d 15, 20-21 (1984); see Sec. 61.075(5)(a)4 (Fla.Stat.1991). However, marital property rights cannot inure in property acquired after a judgment of dissolution of marriage. Howerton v. Howerton, 491 So.2d 614, 615 (Fla. 5th DCA1986), citing In re Marriage of Frazier, 125 Ill.App.3d 473, 80 Ill.Dec. 838, 841, 466 N.E.2d 290, 293 (1984).
There are a number of ways to evaluate a pension/retirement plan and this court in no way intends to limit the discretion which has been granted trial judges in this regard. See Diffenderfer, 491 So.2d at 265; see also Trant v. Trant, 545 So.2d 428 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 551 So.2d 464 (Fla.1989). However, here a method was chosen which clearly considered post-dissolution income. Of the three pension evaluations given by the wife's expert, only the figure of $92,862 represents the present value of the benefit earned...
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Barner v. Barner, 96-3305
..."[M]arital property rights cannot inure in property acquired after a judgment of dissolution of marriage." Reynolds v. Reynolds, 615 So.2d 243, 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)(inclusion of post-dissolution income erroneous as a matter of law). Since the husband's future salary could not be character......
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Gil v. Mendelson, No. 3D01-446
...result.2Dease v. Dease, 688 So.2d 454 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); see Barner v. Barner, 716 So.2d 795 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Reynolds v. Reynolds, 615 So.2d 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Weimer v. Weimer, 677 So.2d 86 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). We also agree with the husband's position that to correct this lega......
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Reynolds v. Reynolds, 94-2526
...Vining, Jr., Miami, for appellee. Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and NESBITT and LEVY, JJ. SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge. Following Reynolds v. Reynolds, 615 So.2d 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), the trial court ordered the husband to pay fifty-five percent of the wife's attorney's fees in accordance with the perc......
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ESTOPINAN v. ESTOPINAN, 3D03-1150.
...court's decisions in a dissolution proceeding should be considered interrelated and part of an overall scheme." Reynolds v. Reynolds, 615 So.2d 243, 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); see also Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197, 1202 (Fla.1980); Hamlet v. Hamlet, 583 So.2d 654, 657 (Fla.1991). In ......
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Equitable distribution and property issues
...as to total amount of employer’s contributions; error to base valuation without competent evidence of value); Reynolds v. Reynolds, 615 So. 2d 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (where value of pension included estimation of salary increases in future after dissolution of marriage, trial court erred in......