NORMAN LEVINE V. HORWITZ

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 10-1862

Case Date: 08/03/2011

Preview:Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida, July Term, A.D. 2011
Opinion filed August 3, 2011. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D10-1862 Lower Tribunal No. 02-18540 ________________

Norman Levine, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Denise Reale, f/k/a Denise Horwitz,
Appellant, vs.

Donald Allen Horwitz,
Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Richard Yale Feder, Judge. Barry S. Franklin, for appellant. Greene Smith and Associates, and Cynthia L. Greene; Kutner & Associates and Maurice Jay Kutner, for appellee.

Before WELLS, C.J., and ROTHENBERG, and SALTER, JJ. WELLS, Chief Judge.

Norman Levine, as personal representative of the estate of Denise Reale, appeals from an order denying his motion to substitute Reale's estate as the petitioner in Reale's existing alimony modification proceeding and to amend the modification petition. We reverse the denial of Levine's motion to substitute, but affirm the denial of his motion to amend. We also reverse that portion of the order on review finding that Reale's existing application for temporary attorney's fees under section 61.16 of the Florida Statutes abated upon Reale's death. Denise Reale and Donald Allen Horwitz were divorced in April 2004. The final judgment dissolving their marriage incorporated a marital settlement agreement which provided for a permanent periodic alimony award to Reale. In July of 2009, Reale petitioned for an upward modification of this award claiming that she needed additional funds to cover recently increased health care costs. She also sought an award of attorney's fees and costs under section 61.16 of the Florida Statutes. See

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