MAI NGUYEN, WIFE, APPELLANT,
v.
HUONG KIM HUYNH, HUSBAND, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2014-09-16
No. 1D13-4146
THOMAS, RAY, and OSTERHAUS, JJ., concur.
147 So. 3d 639 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2014) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Mai Nguyen appeals a supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage. The appellate court found that while most of the trial court's decisions were sound, the equitable distribution scheme relating to rental income from marital properties was improper because the trial court failed to provide sufficient findings of fact and evidentiary support for allocating $502,279.00 in rental income to the former wife.


Holding

The trial court erred in the equitable distribution scheme relating to rental income. The court failed to cite supporting evidence or explain the basis for allocating $502,279.00 in rental income to the former wife, making meaningful appellate review impossible and violating the requirement that distributions be supported by competent substantial evidence with sufficient findings of fact.


Headnotes

[1] Equitable distribution of marital assets in a dissolution judgment must be supported by factual findings based on competent substantial evidence, sufficient to explain th…

[2] A trial court's equitable distribution of marital assets is reversible when the judgment fails to cite supporting evidence or explain the basis for the allocated amounts.

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Key Quotes

“any distribution of marital assets or marital liabilities shall be supported by factual findings in the judgment or order based on competent substantial evidence”

Establishes the statutory requirement for distributions in contested dissolution actions

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Facts & Procedural History

The parties owned multiple residences that generated rental income during their marriage. The trial court found that the former wife received $257,652…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Mai Nguyen, the former wife, appeals a supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage and asserts seven errors. We find merit only in her argument that the trial court erred in devising its equitable distribution scheme relating to rental income from marital properties. Accordingly, we reverse that portion of the equitable distribution in the supplemental final judgment and remand for further proceedings.

*640The parties owned a number of residences that produced rental income during the marriage. In the supplemental final judgment, the trial court found that (1) from the October 24, 2003, filing date of the petition to dissolve the marriage until the parties’ separation on July 1, 2009, the former wife received $257,652.00 in net rental income from the parties’ marital assets; and (2) since the separation, the former wife had received $244,627.00 in total net rental income from the parties’ marital assets. As to both amounts, the court determined that the former wife had fraudulently conveyed, transferred, and/or hidden this income that she solely received. In the equitable distribution, the court distributed the sum of these amounts ($502,279.00) to the former wife as proceeds from real property received by her.

The former wife asserts that the trial court erred in offsetting rental income received by her during the marriage against her portion of the equitable distribution of marital assets. In a contested dissolution action like this one, where the parties have not entered and filed a stipulation and agreement, “any distribution of marital assets or marital liabilities shall be supported by factual findings in the judgment or order based on competent substantial evidence....” § 61.075(3), Fla. Stat. (2009). These findings must be sufficient “to advise the parties or the reviewing court of the trial court’s rationale for the distribution ....” § 61.075(3)(d); Jordan v. Jordan, 127 So.3d 794, 796 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013).

In allocating $502,279.00 in rental income assets to the former wife, the trial' court did not cite any supporting evidence in the record or explain the basis for this substantial amount (or either of the two component amounts). The record does not otherwise disclose the source or reliability of this amount. These omissions render it impossible to conduct meaningful appellate review as to whether competent substantial evidence supports the determination that the former wife received and fraudulently conveyed, transferred, and/or hid $502,279.00 in proceeds from the rental properties. Furbee v. Barrow, 45 So.3d 22, 24 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).

We therefore reverse the equitable distribution scheme in the supplemental final judgment and remand for the trial court to make additional findings of fact explaining the evidentiary source of the amount allocated to the former wife as rental income. Harrell v. Harrell, 947 So.2d 638, 639 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007). The trial court may revisit any other related financial issue to the extent that it is affected by any changes in the equitable distribution plan. Santiago v. Santiago, 51 So.3d 637, 639 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011).

AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.

THOMAS, RAY, and OSTERHAUS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Mai Nguyen v. Huong Kim Nguyen, 200 So. 3d 783 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …the equitable distribution scheme in the supplemental final judgment and remanded for the trial court to make findings of fact explaining the evidentiary source of the amount of rental income allocated to the Former Wife. Nguyen v. Huong Kim Huynh, 147 So. 3d 639, 639-40 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). The trial court in turn entered an Order on Remand, wherein it found that the Former Wife “received $298,690.00 in net rental income from the parties’ marital assets, of which she has hid since the parties’ date of fili…

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