Case Name: Sari POSNER, Appellant, v. Victor POSNER, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1968-01-23
Citations: 206 So. 2d 416
Docket Number: No. 67-107
Parties: Sari POSNER, Appellant, v. Victor POSNER, Appellee.
Judges: Before CHARLES CARROLL, C. J., and HENDRY and SWANN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 206
Pages: 416–422

Head Matter:
Sari POSNER, Appellant, v. Victor POSNER, Appellee.
No. 67-107.
District Court of Appeal of Florida. Third District.
Jan. 23, 1968.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 20, 1968.
Broad & Cassel and Lewis Horwitz, Sib-ley, Giblin, Levenson & Ward, Miami Beach, for appellant.
Frates, Fay, Floyd & Pearson and Guy B. Bailey, Jr., Miami, for appellee.
Before CHARLES CARROLL, C. J., and HENDRY and SWANN, JJ.

Opinion:
HENDRY, Judge.
This is an appeal from a final decree granting a divorce to the husband and awarding alimony and child support money to the wife.
The wife, plaintiff below, brought suit for alimony unconnected with divorce on the ground of extreme cruelty, for support of the children of the parties, and for a decree that the antenuptial agreement between the parties was void. The husband denied the material allegations of the complaint, except the facts of the marriage and the existence of children, and counterclaimed for divorce. The wife denied the material allegations of the counterclaim.
The chancellor entered a final decree granting a divorce to the husband, providing $1,200.00 a month as support for the two children, holding the antenuptial agreement valid, and awarding $600.00 per month alimony to the wife, the amount of alimony being in accordance with the terms of the antenuptial agreement.
The antenuptial agreement contains the following provision:

"9. In the event of the dissolution or termination of this marriage contemplated between the parties hereto, Sari Frazier agrees that she will accept the sum of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month, in lieu of alimony, support or financial reimbursement of any kind whatsoever and that she will assert no further claim beyond the said sum of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month, the payment of which shall continue until her death or remarriage, whichever event may first occur. In the event of the death of Victor Posner, while such payments of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month are being made, the said payments shall terminate and in place thereof, Sari Frazier shall receive a lump sum payment of Twenty-One Thousand, Six Hundred Dollars ($21,600)."
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In regard to the antenuptial agreement, the final decree recited:

"The antenuptial agreement dated December 16, 1960, entered into evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2 is a legally binding contract between the parties.

"The antenuptial agreement entered into by and between the parties and marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2 in the record is adopted by reference and made a part of this final decree.
"As per the terms of the antenuptial agreement adopted and made a part of this final decree in the paragraph above the Defendant, Counter-Plaintiff, Victor Posner, is directed and ordered to pay to the Plaintiff, Counter-Defendant, Sari Posner, the sum of Six Hundred and No/100 ($600.00) Dollars per month as permanent alimony
The wife now brings this appeal, and the husband files cross assignments of error.
The wife's first contention is that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the granting of a divorce. We find this contention to be without merit and affirm the granting of the divorce.
Mrs. Posner's next point on appeal is that the court below was not bound by the terms of the antenuptial agreement in awarding alimony. We agree with this contention.
The law is settled in Florida that the chancellor has sole discretion in awards of alimony.
Section 65.08, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., provides:
"In every decree of divorce in a suit by the wife, the court shall make such orders touching the maintenance, alimony and suit money of the wife, or arn^ allow-anee to be made to her, and if any, the security to be given for the same, as from the circumstances of the parties and nature of the case may be fit, equitable and just; but no alimony shall be granted to an adulterous wife
In Dawkins v. Dawkins, Fla.App. 1965, 172 So.2d 633, the District Court of Appeal, Second District, held:
"Fla.Stat. § 65.08, F.S.A., vests in the chancellor the sole discretion to settle questions relative to alimony and the parties may not by contract divest him of this discretion. Although fair and equitable agreements which are not violative of public policy may be incorporated into a divorce decree, there is no statute or rule of law which says they must be."
The holding in Dawkins, supra, was recognized and followed by this Court in the case of Gelfo v. Gelfo, Fla.App. 1967, 198 So.2d 353, wherein Judge Pearson, speaking for the court, wrote:
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"It is true that the conclusion reached in the Dawkins' case and in this case may be difficult to reconcile with statements in other cases to the effect that a property settlement agreement has the same validity as any other agreement between competent parties [citing authorities]. Nevertheless, we believe that the holdings in the cited cases do not preclude a finding by a chancellor that a provision as to the alimony and support is unconscionable when the record demonstrates support for this finding."
Under Florida law, as we construe it, the chancellor, in divorce proceedings, is given full power at the time he initially enters a divorce decree to fix rights of the parties. The court has the right to approve a prior separation agreement, to modify such agreement, or to dispose of any agreement in its entirety. But once the agreement is approved, it becomes the order of the court, and the decree becomes the basis of the settlement. The court may find an ante-nuptial agreement entered into between the parties to a divorce suit helpful in arriving at an appropriate alimony award, but the court is not bound to accept the judgments of the parties on the issue. For these reasons, we must hold that the chancellor was in error in construing the ante-nuptial agreement to be "a legally binding contract between the parties." Therefore, we reverse the portion of the final decree which awards the sum of Six Hundred Dollars per month as alimony, and remand the cause to the chancellor with directions to enter an order awarding alimony based upon an exercise of the chancellor's sound judicial discretion.
We have examined and considered the cross assignments of error and the contentions of appellee in regard to the award of child support. We find those contentions to be without merit, and hence, that portion of the final decree awarding support payments to the children is affirmed.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part and remanded with directions.