Levine v. Levine’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “I write simply to call attention to the issue raised in the briefs and in oral argument that was not specifically made to the trial court: whether a spouse can request a non-liquid asset in equitable distribution, leaving the liquid assets to the other spouse, thereby generating income and ability to pay for one spouse while increasing the need for alimony of the spouse with the non-liquid asset. It would seem that this could result in strategic maneuvering to the benefit of the spouse seeking alimony and the detriment of the one who will be required to pay. While this case does not present a factual situation necessitating an analysis of this strategy, the future may yield a factual scenario that does. For example, with marital assets of $1,000,000, a non-employed spouse requests a $500,000 non-liquid asset (the marital residence); the other employed spouse receives an income-producing $500,000 asset. The non-employed spouse then asks for alimony and claims to have no income. The employed spouse’s income is increased because of the liquid asset and therefore has a greater ability to pay while the non-employed spouse with the non-liquid asset claims the greater need for alimony. Florida case law supports the imputation of income to liquid assets. McLean v. McLean, 652 So.2d 1178, 1181 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). “When a party receives an asset in equitable distribution that will result in immediate investment income, we see no reason for that income to be excluded from consideration ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Sherlock v. Sherlock