Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

In a unique and unfortunate case involving arson and a Florida divorce, a Florida appellate court considered the appeal of a former husband who opposed the trial court’s decision to award the former wife all of the marital assets and to freeze his entire employee stock ownership plan despite only awarding the former wife half of it. The case is titled Hardy v. Hardy, 1D17-277 (Fla. 1st DCA September 9, 2019).

The evidence presented on the trial level indicated the former husband was an alcoholic who was unemployed and had a history of committing domestic violence. A hearing was held in the parties’ divorce case before a general magistrate who recommended that the marital assets be divided equally between the former spouses. The trial court judge subsequently rejected the general magistrate’s recommendation and awarded the former wife all of the marital assets after learning the former husband repeatedly violated the domestic violence injunction in place and burned the marital home to the ground. At the time of the appeal, the former husband was serving a 20-year prison sentence for arson, burglary and aggravated stalking.

The former husband appealed, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting the general magistrate’s recommendation and that it further committed an error when it froze his entire employee stock ownership plan even though the former wife was only entitled to half of the plan. The appellate court rejected the former husband’s arguments, holding “After becoming aware of Former Husband's crimes, the trial court was within its discretion to freeze the entire stock ownership plan to protect Former Wife's rights to meaningful financial relief, including making up for the loss of the marital home.”

Extreme circumstances sometimes require extreme measures, and this case is an example of that. If you are facing a Florida divorce, contact a Miami divorce lawyer for a consultation to help you understand the next best steps in your case.