DEREK MARTIN GRIFFIN
v.
ANGELA MARY GRIFFIN

Fla. 1st DCA | 2019-06-07
No. 18-4078
273 So. 3d 282 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2019) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A Florida appellate court reviewed a dissolution of marriage judgment and found error in the trial court's equitable distribution scheme. The court reversed the equitable distribution portion and remanded for reconsideration, while affirming the remainder of the judgment.


Holding

Absent a showing of misconduct, it is error to include assets in an equitable distribution scheme that have been diminished or dissipated during the dissolution proceedings. To determine dissipation of marital assets, the trial court must make a specific finding of intentional misconduct based on evidence that marital funds were used for one party's own benefit and for a purpose unrelated to the marriage at a time when the marriage is undergoing irreconcilable breakdown.


Headnotes

[1] To establish dissipation of marital assets, a trial court must make specific findings of intentional misconduct showing that marital funds were used for one party's own b…

Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“Absent a showing of misconduct, it is error to include assets in an equitable distribution scheme that have been diminished or dissipated during the dissolution proceedings.”

Court stating the applicable legal standard from Olivarez v. Olivarez

Facts & Procedural History

During dissolution proceedings, one party received a settlement that was diminished or dissipated. The trial court included the entire amount of the s…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court

court to include the entire amount of the settlement in the equitable distribution scheme. See Olivarez v. Olivarez, 250 So. 3d 872 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)(“Absent a showing of misconduct, it is error to include assets in an equitable distribution scheme that have been diminished or dissipated during the dissolution proceedings.”) (internal quotations omitted); Walker v. Walker, 85 So. 3d 553, 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (“[I]n order to determine that a spouse has dissipated marital assets, the trial court must make a specific finding of intentional misconduct based on evidence showing that the marital funds were used for one party’s own benefit and for a purpose unrelated to the marriage at a time when the marriage is undergoing an irreconcilable breakdown.”) (internal quotations omitted). Accordingly, we reverse the equitable distribution portion of the dissolution judgment and remand to the trial court for additional findings or reconsideration of the equitable distribution scheme. The dissolution judgment is otherwise affirmed.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED and REMANDED in part.

WOLF, WETHERELL, and MAKAR, JJ., concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.

_____________________________ Derek Martin Griffin, pro se, Appellant. Clark H. Henderson of Henderson Law Firm, PA, Shalimar, for Appellee.

findings on the veracity of this testimony or the amount of the remaining settlement proceeds.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw