Florida District Courts of Appeal, 1983

Halpern v. Halpern

Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided August 16, 1983 · Baskin, Nesbitt, Schwartz

436 So. 2d 366; 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 22573 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Cases that cite this one

3 later published cases cite this decision.

Pabian v. Pabian (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1985)
Winset v. Fine (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990)
Scharf v. Smith (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

BASKIN, Judge.

In accordance with our concern for the substance rather than the form of payments made pursuant to a dissolution decree, regardless of the label of “property settlement” or “alimony”; and in recognition that the name assigned may not be conclusive of the question of the character of the obligation, see Underwood v. Underwood, 64 So.2d 281 (Fla. 1953); Fagan v. Lewis, *367374 So.2d 18 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), we hold that the sums referred to in paragraph 3 of the order portion of the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage dated May 23,1980, constituted alimony obligations enforceable by contempt and not a property settlement. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the cause to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the wife’s motion for contempt.

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