Staceon
07/19/2000, 10:18 AM
Man must continue paying alimony despite
ex-wife's death
Tuesday, July 18, 2000
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., — Florida's Supreme Court took the phrase "until death do us part" a step further, ruling that a divorced man must pay alimony to his ex-wife even though she is dead.
In a unanimous ruling Thursday, Florida's highest court said Eugene Gaines must pay more than a years' worth of alimony to the estate of his late ex-wife, Chlodel Gaines, who died shortly after their divorce was declared final.
The Tampa-area couple married in 1982. In January 1996, Eugene Gaines filed for divorce. His wife agreed to the divorce and requested alimony.
The divorce was final in October 1996. While both sides agreed that the marriage was legally dissolved, each appealed portions of the final judgment. While the appeals were pending, Chlodel Gaines died on Feb. 25, 1997.
Eugene Gaines then sought to quash the divorce agreement, which would have allowed him to keep the $70,000 home she was to receive. It would also have relieved him of paying $500 a month in alimony for the period elapsed between the divorce filing and his ex-wife's death, attorney Theodore Rechel said Friday.
But the high court said Eugene Gaines must abide by the agreement and his alimony obligations did not terminate with his wife's death.
"To void the dissolution decree on the basis that Mrs. Gaines died while a motion for rehearing raising other issues was pending, would be contrary to the parties undisputed intent to be divorced and could lead to unjust and inequitable results," Judge Harry Instead wrote.
ex-wife's death
Tuesday, July 18, 2000
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., — Florida's Supreme Court took the phrase "until death do us part" a step further, ruling that a divorced man must pay alimony to his ex-wife even though she is dead.
In a unanimous ruling Thursday, Florida's highest court said Eugene Gaines must pay more than a years' worth of alimony to the estate of his late ex-wife, Chlodel Gaines, who died shortly after their divorce was declared final.
The Tampa-area couple married in 1982. In January 1996, Eugene Gaines filed for divorce. His wife agreed to the divorce and requested alimony.
The divorce was final in October 1996. While both sides agreed that the marriage was legally dissolved, each appealed portions of the final judgment. While the appeals were pending, Chlodel Gaines died on Feb. 25, 1997.
Eugene Gaines then sought to quash the divorce agreement, which would have allowed him to keep the $70,000 home she was to receive. It would also have relieved him of paying $500 a month in alimony for the period elapsed between the divorce filing and his ex-wife's death, attorney Theodore Rechel said Friday.
But the high court said Eugene Gaines must abide by the agreement and his alimony obligations did not terminate with his wife's death.
"To void the dissolution decree on the basis that Mrs. Gaines died while a motion for rehearing raising other issues was pending, would be contrary to the parties undisputed intent to be divorced and could lead to unjust and inequitable results," Judge Harry Instead wrote.