10-6117 LOUETTER BOOTH RUCKER, FORMER WIFE v. ROBERT MALCOLM RUCKER, HUSBAND

State: Florida

Court: Florida First District Court

Docket No: 10-6117

Case Date: 03/14/2012

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA LOUETTER BOOTH RUCKER, FORMER WIFE, Appellant, CASE NO. 1D10-6117 v. ROBERT MALCOLM RUCKER, HUSBAND, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed March 14, 2012. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. E. McRae Mathis, Judge. William Bruce Muench, Jacksonville, for Appellant. Charles E. Willmott, Jacksonville, for Appellee. NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

PER CURIAM. The former wife appeals a final judgment dissolving the parties' 12-1/2-year marriage, awarding her transitional bridge-the-gap alimony in the amount of $1,100.00 per month for a period of 18 months, and denying her request for permanent periodic alimony. In pertinent part, she contends that the trial court

abused its discretion in applying the factors in section 61.08(2), Florida Statutes (2010), which are to be considered in resolving alimony issues. Given the

evidence that the trial court miscalculated both parties' monthly net incomes, and our inability to determine whether the court considered all relevant factors in section 61.08(2) before denying permanent periodic alimony, we reverse the trial court's determination of income and remand for income recalculations and findings of fact. The first alleged error is the court's adding the parties' monthly retirement income to their monthly net incomes after the parties themselves had included their military retirement in their income calculations. The result was that the court included military retirement twice in calculating net income. Specifically, in

properly considering "[a]ll sources of income available to either party" pursuant to section 61.08(2)(i), the trial court made findings concerning the former wife's net income per month, but then the court added her military retirement in the amount of $1,124.00 a month. By including her military retirement twice, the court found the former wife's net monthly income is higher than the record would demonstrate. The court calculated the former husband's net income per month and then added his monthly military retirement, apparently unaware that the former husband had already included his military retirement.

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In deciding whether to award alimony or maintenance, the trial court "shall first make a specific factual determination as to whether either party has an actual need for alimony or maintenance and whether either party has the ability to pay alimony or maintenance."

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