Equitable distribution in a Florida divorce

Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Dissolution of Marriage

Equitable distribution in a Florida divorce is the division of assets and debts between spouses. Generally a Florida divorce court looks at the value of marital assets and how much marital debt is owed, and distributes these between the spouses to arrive at an equal division. In the case Ouimette v. Ouimette, 2D20-22 (Fla. 2d DCA May 28, 2021), the division of a retirement account was at issue.

At a trial on the parties’ divorce, the only evidence submitted at trial concerning a retirement account held by the former wife was her financial affidavit. The affidavit classified the account as non-marital, and the former husband did not offer any argument or evidence to the contrary at trial. The final judgment therefore did not distribute the retirement account. The former husband appealed, arguing it was error for the trial court not to distribute the account.

The appellate court disagreed, holding that because the former husband presented no evidence at trial to the contrary and he did not challenge the classification of the account as non-marital, there was no error. The appellate court did rule, however, that the final judgment should be amended to classify the former wife’s retirement account as non-marital since Florida Statutes Chp. 61.075 requires this.

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