Case Name: Margaret M. HALPERN, Appellant, v. Stanley N. HALPERN, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1983-08-16
Citations: 436 So. 2d 366
Docket Number: No. 83-163
Parties: Margaret M. HALPERN, Appellant, v. Stanley N. HALPERN, Appellee.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 436
Pages: 366–367

Head Matter:
Margaret M. HALPERN, Appellant, v. Stanley N. HALPERN, Appellee.
No. 83-163.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Aug. 16, 1983.
Young, Stern & Tannenbaum and Glen Rafkin, North Miami Beach, for appellant.
Carol R. Gersten, Miami, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ.

Opinion:
BASKIN, Judge.
In accordance with our concern for the substance rather than the form of payments made pursuant to a dissolution decree, regardless of the label of "property settlement" or "alimony"; and in recognition that the name assigned may not be conclusive of the question of the character of the obligation, see Underwood v. Underwood, 64 So.2d 281 (Fla.1953); Fagan v. Lewis, 374 So.2d 18 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), we hold that the sums referred to in paragraph 3 of the order portion of the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage dated May 23,1980, constituted alimony obligations enforceable by contempt and not a property settlement. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the cause to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the wife's motion for contempt.