Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

Florida’s constitution protects a homestead in that most creditors are not permitted to levy upon the homestead if a debt is owed. How does this homestead protection affect division of a marital home in a Florida divorce case? This was an issue in the case Toussaint v. Toussaint, 3D23-0812 (Fla. 3d DCA August 28, 2023).

This appellate opinion does not give any background facts. However, it appears this was a divorce case in which a marital home was distributed between the parties, and the former wife appealed on the basis that Florida’s homestead laws prevented the divorce court from granting all or part of the value of the home to the former husband.

The appellate court disagreed, citing the following:

Affirmed. § 61.077, Fla. Stat. (2024); Sell v. Sell, 949 So. 2d 1108, 1112 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (noting that the homestead character of a marital 2 home does not bar the distribution or partition of the home between spouses (citing Partridge v. Partridge, 912 So. 2d 649, 650 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005))); Ortiz v. Ortiz, 315 So. 3d 149, 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (“The marital home, like any other marital asset, is subject to equitable distribution.”); Sharon v. Sharon, 862 So. 2d 789, 791 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (“[A]llocating the marital home . . . as part of the plan of equitable distribution falls within the scope of the trial court's broad discretion[.]”)

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