Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

When marital funds are used to pay down the mortgage on premarital real property, those funds may entitle the non-owning spouse to a credit in equitable distribution even if the property did not appreciate in value during the marriage. This was an issue in the case Escalona Socarras v. Bazan Vassallo, 3D23-1012 (Fla. 3d DCA May 1, 2024).

The former husband in this divorce case owned property prior to marriage. After it was determined that this was his premarital property, the trial court found the former wife was not entitled to any share of appreciation in value of the property because the property depreciated in value during the marriage. The former wife appealed the trial court’s denial of her request for credit associated with the use of marital funds to pay down the mortgage on the property.

The appellate court agreed with the former wife and reversed the judgment. It held “Although the trial court in this case correctly found there was no appreciation, it erred in failing to give the Former Wife a credit for any use of marital funds to pay down the mortgage, which reduced the indebtedness on the Miami Property during the marriage. See Somasca v. Somasca, 171 So. 3d 780, 782 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) (‘Granted, the [property] did not appreciate in value during the term of the parties' marriage, but the use of marital funds to pay down the mortgage obviously caused an enhancement in the value of the Husband's equity in the property . . . It follows that the resulting increase in the equity value of the [property] was a marital asset subject to equitable distribution.’) [. . .].”

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