What process do courts undertake in determining distribution of certificate of deposits (CD), money market, or savings/checking bank accounts?

If your assets are not properly defined as mariTal or non-mariTal, you may end up in court again.  

It is well settled Florida law that for equitable distribution, the courts must determine if the parties’ assets are non-marital or marital. But, what happens when a trial court does not categorize a spouse’s asset or assets as required by statute?

A recent 5th District Court of Appeals case was faced with this issue. In Goldman v. Goldman, the trial court held that both spouses were entitled to the sole maintenance of all accounts in their respective names. The appellate court reversed and remanded back to trial holding that the trial court never categorized the wife’s checking account or CD as being either marital or non-marital; whereby, not adhering to the equitable distribution statute. The appellate court further made clear that if the trial court—in remand—finds any accounts to be marital, the trial court must address the facts pertinent to each statutory consideration if the trial court unequally distributes these marital funds.

Your attorney should be familiar with all Florida statutes pertaining to a court’s evaluation of equitable distribution. This will help ensure you get the result you deserve and help prevent costly appellate proceedings.

If you have any questions related to family law or require legal assistance in other areas of Family Law you may always contact Damien McKinney of The McKinney Law Group to discuss your case further. He can be reached by phone at 813-428-3400 or by e-mail at [email protected].