Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

Making sure you have a transcript of a hearing in your Florida divorce case can help protect you in the event there is an appeal. A transcript is usually required when there is an appeal filed, and failure to provide one may result in dismissal of an appeal. There are situations, however, where a transcript may not be required because an error is apparent on the face of the judgment. This was an issue in the case Jocelyn v. Jocelyn, 5D2023-1586 (Fla. 5th DCA June 14, 2024).

In this divorce case, alimony was awarded to the former wife, and the former husband was obligated to maintain life insurance to support the award. the former husband appealed this issue along with other matters, but he did not provide a transcript of the trial court proceedings. The appellate court still considered his appeal because some of the issues he raised were apparent on the face of the judgment.

The appellate court first noted that although the trial court listed the statutory factors for evaluating an alimony claim, the court did not provide any analysis or apply the factors to the facts of the case. The court held “Here, the final judgment merely listed the factors in section 61.08(3), without making findings as to each. While the court did make findings as to the parties’ monthly gross incomes, Former Wife’s underemployment, and that the award of alimony would not leave Former Husband ‘with significantly less net income than the net income of [Former] Wife[,]’ it failed to make several other statutory required findings. For example, no factual findings were made as to the net income of the parties, the age of the parties, duration of the marriage, standard of living, work history, sources of income, contribution to the marriage, present employability, and ability to become self-supporting. This was error.”

Regarding the life insurance, the court held “To require a party paying alimony to maintain life insurance, the trial court must make findings regarding the availability and cost of insurance, ability to pay for the insurance, and special circumstances warranting the requirement of life insurance. See Alpha v. Alpha, 885 So. 2d 1023, 1033–34 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). As with the alimony award, the necessary findings to support a requirement to purchase and maintain life insurance were not included in the final judgment. This too requires remand.”

Schedule your meeting with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to the facts of your case.