Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
When a house is sold in a Florida divorce case, is a party entitled to credits for payments made toward the house pending the sale? A party might be able to claim credits for expenses paid on the home if there is an agreement to that effect or the court determines the credits are equitable.
In the case Ford v. Ford, 5D22-389 (Fla. 5th DCA December 2, 2022), the parties agreed in their divorce that the former husband would have exclusive use and possession of the marital home until their child turned 18, whereupon the home would be sold and the parties would divide the net proceeds. The parties also agreed that while the former husband was living in the home, he would be solely responsible for mortgage, taxes, utilities, insurance, maintenance and minor repairs. But once he vacated the home, pending the sale, the parties would be equally responsible for these expenses.
The former husband vacated the home five months prior to the sale. During these five months he made full payment of some of the expenses for which both parties were responsible under the agreement. As a result, a disputed portion of the sale proceeds were held in trust until the court could decide if the former husband was entitled to credits. After a hearing, the trial court determined the disputed proceeds in trust (representing the amount the former husband claimed was owed to him as a credit for his full payment of shared expenses) should be divided equally between the parties without making finding as to why. After the former husband’s motion for rehearing was summarily denied, he appealed.
The appellate court held “On appeal, Former Husband argues that ‘[s]ince there are not any factual findings contained in the Order, it’s impossible to determine how the trial court arrived at that number.’ We agree. Indeed, a cursory review of the uncontested expenses reflect that Former Husband should have received more than one-half of the monies held in trust. Because the trial court’s lack of findings precludes meaningful appellate review, we reverse and remand for the trial court to reconsider this issue and to make sufficient factual findings to permit meaningful appellate review.”
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