White v. White, 4D01-3465.
| Decision Date | 03 July 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 4D01-3465.,4D01-3465. |
| Citation | 820 So.2d 432 |
| Parties | James W. WHITE, Appellant, v. Betty J. WHITE, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Thomas Montgomery of Thomas Montgomery, P.A., Belle Glade, for appellant.
Ann Porath, Wellington, for appellee.
The parties' almost forty-five-year marriage was dissolved in December 2000. At that time, the former husband, James W. White, was 62 years old; the former wife, Betty J. White, was 63 years old. The parties' assets included the marital home, unencumbered by a mortgage, with two cottages used as rental property, valued at $106,000, and future lump sum payments to the former husband from a worker's compensation settlement. At issue in this appeal is whether the former husband's worker's compensation annuity was properly treated as a marital asset and whether the former husband should have received a setoff for rental income against the former wife's special equity in the home.
Also, pursuant to the agreement, the former husband received an additional $15,000 as compensation for future medical expenses and a lump sum payment of $25,000 upon signing the agreement.
In Weisfeld v. Weisfeld, 545 So.2d 1341 (Fla.1989), the supreme court discussed the equitable division of worker's compensation awards in the context of a dissolution. In determining whether an award is marital property, the court should consider the purpose of the award by focusing on the "elements of the damages" of the award. Id. at 1343. In other words, is the award "(1) compensation for the injured spouse for pain and suffering, disability, and disfigurement, (2) compensation for the injured spouse for lost wages, lost earning capacity, and medical and hospital expenses, [or] (3) compensation for the uninjured spouse for loss of consortium." Id. (quoting Weisfeld v. Weisfeld, 513 So.2d 1278, 1281 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)). Only that portion of damages paid to the injured spouse as compensation for past lost wages and loss of earning capacity is to be considered marital property. See id. at 1345. Damages for future loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity and future medical expenses are the separate property of the injured spouse, but may be considered in fashioning alimony and support awards. See id.
In this case, the language of the settlement agreement is clear and indicates that the future lump sum payments to the former husband are neither compensation for his pain and suffering nor compensation for future medical expenses. Thus, they can only be to compensate the former husband for his loss of future earning capacity. As such, under Weisfeld, it was error to characterize the future lump sum payments as marital assets. Any payments made after the date of the dissolution are the former husband's separate property and are not subject to equitable distribution.
The trial court awarded each party half of the marital home and gave the former wife a special equity equal to $8,000. The former husband disputes this special equity award based on the former wife's failure to specifically request such relief. While the wife requested a "special equity" based upon her monetary contributions for the property's maintenance and upkeep, a "special equity" requires the contribution by one spouse of funds unconnected with the marital relationship. See Robertson v. Robertson, 593 So.2d 491, 494 (Fla.1991)
. In this case, the wife did not show that her payments toward the maintenance of the marital home came from a source unconnected with the marital relationship.
On the other hand, in a claim for equitable distribution, which the wife did allege, the court may consider the contributions of each spouse towards the property. In Pearce v. Pearce, 626 So.2d 294, 294-95 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993), the court held that a former...
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