This case involved a dispute between husband and wife over the sale proceeds from the marital home that the parties retained after divorce. The parties purchased a home during their marriage. They subsequently divorced and deferred the sale of the jointly-deeded marital home until an unspecified future date. Their divorce final judgment was entered in 2007 and ratified a marital settlement agreement drafted by the parties. The marital settlement agreement required the former wife to make the ongoing mortgage payments. The MSA also provided that any future sale proceeds from a deferred sale would be split 60/40 in her favor.

For 17 years, the former wife paid all property-related expenses, including taxes, insurance, and maintenance. She occasionally rented the home and did not share the rents she received with the former husband. The husband did not contribute to the carrying costs of the home.

When they agreed to sell in 2021, the former husband claimed his 40% share of the proceeds. The former wife refused, seeking reimbursement for half of the property-related expenses she had been covering after their divorce final judgment was entered.

The issue before the court was whether a co-owner who pays all property expenses after divorce has a right to reimbursement when the property is sold.

The First DCA began by reviewing general property law. Under F.S. §689.15, property held as “tenancy by the entirety” converts to a “tenancy in common” after entry of a divorce final judgment. Co-tenants generally share responsibility for property expenses. In this particular case, the MSA relieved the former husband of mortgage payments but was silent on other costs. Therefore, the court found the former husband remains liable for his share of non-mortgage expenses.

The First DCA also noted that the default rule providing for equal sharing of costs also applies to income, and that half the rental income the former wife received must be offset against the former husband’s half of the non-mortgage expenses.

This case illustrates that clarity matters when drafting marital settlement agreements. Jointly owned property can create long-term financial entanglements after divorce. Marital settlement agreements should be drafted with precision to avoid costly disputes years later.

Michael DeVoe is a divorce attorney in Orlando, Florida practicing contested divorce, uncontested divorce, timesharing, visitation, custody, paternity, child support, injunctions, and other family law cases.

When dividing assets in a Florida divorce, one common question is whether a spouse that uses nonmarital funds to pay marital expenses converts the asset from non-marital to marital. The recent case of Rose v. Rose (November 2025) provides important guidance.

In Rose, the husband owned a construction company that the court classified as nonmarital property. During the marriage, he used the company’s accounts to pay personal and marital expenses. The trial court ruled that this use converted part of the business into a marital asset and awarded his wife half the business value.

The Second DCA reversed the trial court, holding that the use of nonmarital funds for marital expenses does not automatically convert the asset into marital property. Only when nonmarital funds are mixed with marital funds (e.g., deposited into a joint account) or there is clear intent to gift does the classification change.

Florida law is clear: Payment of marital expenses with nonmarital funds does not change ownership classification unless commingling or gifting occurs. It is important to keep marital and non-marital accounts separate to avoid commingling.

Michael DeVoe is a divorce attorney in Orlando, Florida practicing contested divorce, uncontested divorce, timesharing, visitation, custody, paternity, child support, injunctions, and other family law cases.

The trial court ended up equally distributing the marital assets and liabilities, except for the retirement accounts of the parties. The husband kept his retirement account with a balance of $1,078,810. The wife kept her retirement account with a balance of $803,257. The trial court referenced the wife’s destruction of the husband’s memorabilia collection to justify the unequal distribution of $275,553 in favor of the husband.

The Third District noted that the equitable distribution statutes does not consider the intentional destruction of nonmarital property, but that the trial court could properly consider the wife’s conduct as part of the broad catchall of “other factors necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.” However, the Third District agreed with the wife’s argument that “the sentimental interest of one party in . . . property cannot take priority over financial fairness to the other party.” The Third District reversed and remanded for the trial court to reduce the husband’s unequal distribution to $14,500, which is the value he assessed the memorabilia in his financial affidavit.

Personally I think the trial court only erred by lowballing the husband’s Star Wars collection. But if you can’t get sentimental value for the Millenium Falcon, then forget about those Hummels; Elvis memorabilia, and bone china.

Michael DeVoe is a divorce attorney in Orlando, Florida practicing contested divorce, uncontested divorce, timesharing, visitation, custody, paternity, child support, injunctions, and other family law cases.

What is the first step in getting a divorce in Florida?

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The first step is filing a document called Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the court. This document outlines the claims you have for property and child custody and must be delivered to the other spouse. If you have children, the state of Florida also requires you to attend a seminar on children and divorce.

The Divorce Process in Florida

One of the spouse files for divorce

The spouse filing for divorce is called the Petitioner. They are the one who initiates the procedure with the family law or domestic relations court.

The other spouse receives the divorce papers

The spouse who did not file for divorce is called the Respondent. This spouse will receive the dissolution of marriage papers from a service.

The divorce is filed with the court

The divorce will be handled in the Circuit Court for the county that you live in. The court will assign your divorce a case number and will have jurisdictional rights to grant orders concerning your property, debt division, support, custody, and visitation.

Primary documents are completed and filed

Documents such as the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage are filed. The documents start and finalize the divorce in Florida, along with ten to 20 other documents. The County Clerk’s office will manage all of your paperwork and keep both parties and lawyers informed throughout the process.

Property is divided and distributed

Marital property is always divided equally in the state of Florida. Florida is an, “equitable distribution” state so judges always divide property in the fairest and most equal way.

Spousal support it determined

Spousal support is decided on a case by case basis so not all divorces require spousal support.

Child custody and support is granted

The state of Florida always strives to do what is best for the children involved and typically grants shared custody and only grants sole custody when it’s in the best interest of the child. Child support is based on the amount of income each parent makes. Income is usually verified by examining past W-2’s and with child support worksheets.

How to Divide Your Assets in a Divorce

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Before a divorce can be granted, all of the couple’s assets must be divided in a way that is agreed upon by both parties. This can get really difficult when it comes to the couple’s home, vehicles, securities, valuable collectibles, retirement benefits, and household items. But if you can both agree, it will make the divorce process quicker and easier. The following may help you divide your assets amicably:

Make a list

Make a list of all of your assets with your spouse. You should include your home or any joint property (land, a vacation home, lake cabin, etc), all vehicles, bank accounts, securities (stocks, bonds, money market accounts, CD’s), valuable collectibles, household items including furniture and appliances, and retirement savings and plans.

Play Nice

If you and your spouse can make a list in an amicable way and agree to how you’re going to divide your possessions you can save a lot of time and money. When there are property disputes, a third party has to be brought in to help you come to an agreement. Ninety percent of divorces are settled without a trial. Seeing a divorce mediator or hiring a divorce attorney can help you handle your property division.

Dividing the House and Car

The home and cars are often the cause of dispute in a divorce. The home is usually given to the parent with primary custody of the children if there are any. The car is more complicated and isn’t necessarily given to the spouse who solely holds the title.  The car may become marital property and given to a spouse depending on how much it’s worth.

Florida Property Division

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Florida’s laws regarding property division call for equitable distribution of property between the two spouses. This means that in most scenarios, you can expect your house and belongings to be split fairly between you and your spouse. However, there are instances where there are exceptions to this law. Each case is judged individually, so in a divorce where a judge may see equal property division as unfair, the judge will then look at other factors to determine how the property will be split. In these types of cases, the judge will look at several factors including but not limited to:

• Spousal contribution or interruption to the other spouse’s education or career opportunities
• Spouse’s financial status
• The length of the marriage
• Destruction or waste of marital assets
• Contributions made to improving shared assets

As always, each case is different. There are many things a judge will look at if they feel equal property division during a divorce would be unfair. Consult with your divorce lawyer for more specific information regarding your case.

There’s a bit of wiggle room in the division, and if the couples can agree on certain items being split, the entire process can go much more smoothly. There will always be property worth fighting over, though. Case in point:

What happens to big-ticket items like houses and cars?

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With houses, the value is almost always taken into account along with the other community property, so if one person ends up with the house, the other person is awarded other items of commensurate value. One of the big exceptions to this rule is if one parent is granted sole custody of children, in which case they tend to get the marital house as well. This is not always the case, though, and certainly not the only exception to the rule either.

For things like cars, it actually gets a bit more complicated.

Generally, the rule is, if the item was owned by one person before the marriage, it’s not community property (there are always exceptions). However, if one vehicle was purchased and shared by both spouses, even if only one person’s name is on the title, then it will usually be considered community property, and the dollar value of that vehicle will be included in the property division determination. Sometimes, it can even be possible to argue that a vehicle one spouse owned before the marriage turned in to community property while in the marriage. This could be due to the couple carpooling to work, or the other spouse selling their preexisting car in order to consolidate, etc.

It’s worth mentioning that the split of all these possessions can be agreed upon by the spouses, but if no amicable agreement can be reached, this is how the court system will treat a property division case.

Cars are a borderline-necessity in this day and age (especially in Florida), so make sure that you think about what is likely to happen to your marital vehicles should you be facing divorce. Even if your name has never been on the title, you may still be able to claim ownership of it. Be sure to talk to a skilled attorney if you have any questions.

Florida law states that the division is usually an equitable division between the individuals. Equitable can be equal, as in a 50/50 split, but it is mostly a judge’s choice to determine what a fair split of the property based on certain factors such as:

• Each individuals’ personal financial situation
• The length of duration of the marriage
• Each spouse’s contribution to the marriage, economic and otherwise
• Contribution to, or interruption of career or education by the spouse(s)
• Liabilities by either spouse that may affect marital assets.

The court must determine how feasible dividing property is, for example a business started during the marriage could be considered a marital asset but how do you divide a business? In these cases, the court might often award the business to the operating spouse and can award a compensatory cash amount for the other spouse.

But What About Non-Marital Property?

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Assets (and debt) owned by the individuals from before the marriage, acquired as a gift (not by the other spouse), or acquired through inheritance are not usually subject to division in a divorce. It sounds cut and dry, but often it is not. For example, a separate property that has appreciated in value is not likely to be subject to division but the value gained during the marriage can be considered a marital asset and can be divided.

Marital and Separate properties can be mixed together, and it happens often unintentionally. Spouses can often divide this property rationally, but if not a judge will have to decide whether “commingled property” (as it is called) was a gift to the marriage and whether the original owner should be reimbursed, and to what degree.

Once the property has been defined, that is what is a marital asset and what is not a marital asset, it is then up to the court to assign value to the properties. A professional appraiser can be hired to evaluate the assets, and often a financial professional such as an actuary or CPA is called in to sort through complex assets such as investment profiles or retirement accounts.

Ultimately, this is usually only required if the spouses cannot come to amicable property agreements privately. If the spouses can come to an arrange that satisfies both parties without taking it to court, then they are likely to not be required to go through this arbitration. However, when a divorce becomes contentious, it can help to hire an experienced divorce lawyer.

As you might imagine, the laws that govern who gets what have ancient roots, and have evolved over many millions of cases, to address a broad range of specific factors and to enable, as far as possible, equitable outcomes.

Property division laws are usually more concerned with how and when an asset was acquired than they are with how much it’s worth.

The specific laws related to property division are complex, but a simple guideline to follow is this: If the asset was acquired during the marriage, then it is likely subject to division. It doesn’t matter if that asset is a vehicle, house, savings account, stocks, or even an increase in value to a previously-owned item. Gifts between spouses can even be subject to property division (for example, a $50,000 diamond ring).

It also doesn’t matter if the asset is only in one person’s name; if it was acquired during the marriage, then it will most likely be subject to property division laws.

By analogy, a good CPA brings his or her detailed knowledge and experience to bear on finding your assets and minimizing your liabilities. Your CPA works to minimize your exposure, both in the short-term and in the long-term. Your attorney plays a similar role in representing your interests in the dividing of marital property. Your attorney is going to help you consider your assets and your priorities in detail. There are short- and long-term considerations.

Of course, there are other factors that will be considered in deciding who gets what, such as the duration of the marriage, assets acquired before the marriage, and many more. The rules are detailed. You aren’t going to figure your likely outcomes out by yourself. Worrying about it more doesn’t do anything to improve your chances.

You aren’t going to make your best decisions, or make your best plans, by yourself, under the stress and emotion of a divorce. It’s clearly in your best interest to contact a skilled attorney immediately. They will be able to sort out and protect your property, as one important aspect of the divorce. In an adversarial situation, they will come up with a strategy and a plan for you, to get you the best outcomes you can get, under the law.

When a home is owned jointly, the first option is for one of you to stay in the house, while the other finds somewhere else to live. What about the names on the mortgage, though? Should you immediately get your spouse’s name off the mortgage? While that may be the first impulse, it is not necessarily a good idea. Until everything is entirely ironed out and stamped with a judge’s seal of approval, you want to avoid taking any drastic actions. What’s important is for you to work an unofficial “arrangement” such as that into an official agreement, with the details spelled out up-front in writing.

One major piece of advice that any attorney will give you is to NOT buy a new house while in the middle of a divorce. Even if you could comfortably afford it and will need a house eventually, now is not the time for such major decisions. In fact, while in the midst of divorce proceedings, it’s a good idea to run any financial commitments by your attorney first. They’re the ones with the greatest knowledge about your particular circumstances.

So, bringing it back to the original question, where should you live during the divorce proceedings? Well, the obvious answer is to try to stay living together in your normal house. This is not always possible, but if you are able to get along together in close quarters, it can save a lot of money, make the transition a lot easier for children (if you have any), and it will allow you to easily collaborate on decisions/agreements. If, however, being that close would lead to a toxic environment, it may be better to leave. In that case, you could do as many others have done: You can rent an apartment nearby; something close enough to be convenient, cheap enough to be safe, and comfortable enough to be temporary housing.

Whatever you do, don’t make any rash decisions about living arrangements. What seems to make sense now often looks rash in retrospect. So, have a sounding board – someone who can help you plan properly, and tell you when something is a good/bad idea.

It’s worth mentioning that keeping the house may not make sense for either party, in which case you have other options you can exercise. There may be better uses for your money, and someone with personal knowledge of your case can help you find them. If you have any questions or concerns about your divorce or any other family matter, get in touch with a skilled attorney today. They can help you reduce your stress and avoid any complications.

Source: https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2014/10/29/how-to-get-a-mortgage-after-a-divorce