Bamonte v. Bamonte
Bamonte v. Bamonte
Opinion of the Court
The former husband appeals a final judgment of dissolution of marriage. He raises two issues on appeal: 1) whether the trial court erred in entering its final order awarding the former wife $40,000 in lump-sum alimony from the former husband; and 2) whether the trial court erred in awarding the former wife attorney’s fees from the former husband. We reverse and remand as to both issues because of the trial court’s failure to address the husband’s ability to pay the lump-sum alimony and also meet his reasonable living expenses.
The appellant and appellee were married on November 27, 1982. They had a child together, who is now 15 years old.
The former husband was injured in 1993 on the job, and has not worked since then. In January 2001, he settled his worker’s
The former wife’s financial affidavit lists her net monthly income as $1,347 and total monthly expenses as $1,543; she testified that she has $12,000 in debt. The former wife also testified that during the time the former husband was injured and not working, she took care of him and their son and took on a second job to help support the family.
In the final judgment of dissolution, the former husband was ordered to pay $40,000 in lump-sum alimony and half of the former wife’s attorney’s fees. In support of the award of lump-sum alimony, the trial court stated its reasoning as follows:
The Court recognizes that this is a long term marriage as the Parties were married in November of 1982. The Wife contributed significantly to assist the Husband with his problems which resulted from injures he sustained in an on-the-job accident. She is relatively young, being 41 years of age and in reasonably good health. The Wife is able to and does work two jobs although not simultaneously; the jobs are consecutive seasonal jobs where the Wife is a school bus driver during the school year and is employed by the Escambia County Transit System when school is not in session. This Court finds that the Wife is entitled to alimony in finding her need. If the Husband had the ability to pay, the Wife’s needs would indicate an alimony award in the $500-1,000 per month range, say $700. However, the Husband is not able to pay permanent periodic alimony as he is disabled; (he has no income). The Court determines that the Wife would otherwise be entitled to $8,400 per year. Assuming the Wife has a life span of approximately 30 more years, this stream of payments to her and from the Husband would amount to $252,000. However, this Court finds that lump sum alimony is a more appropriate remedy as permanent periodic alimony is not indicated due to the Husband’s inability to work and lack of any income. The Court does not believe that a reasonable employer would hire the Husband given his presentation. The Court has the authority to utilize the funds received from the Husband’s accident in formulating a lump sum alimony award. Therefore, within thirty (30) days within entry of this Judgment, the Husband shall pay over to the Wife the sum of forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to her to pay off her indebtedness and put some funds aside to assist her.
It is appropriate for a trial court to award lump-sum alimony as a basis for support. See Levin v. Levin, 745 So.2d
Since the issue of the former husband’s ability to pay is also pertinent to the issue of attorney’s fees, we also reverse the award of attorney’s fees and remand for reassessment of that issue.
ERVIN and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.
. The former husband has custody of the child, and the former wife pays child support in the amount of $240 per month.
. $10,000 of this amount was to be repaid by a friend, and $70,000 was to be repaid by his brother upon sale of the brother’s house where the former husband and his brother were living.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.