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Dawson v. Dawson

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 23, 2007
948 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

Opinion

No. 5D05-3529.

February 23, 2007.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Flagler County, Kim C. Hammond, J.

Wm. Bruce Muench and Jonathan J. Luca, of Law Offices of Muench Luca, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellant.

Charles A. Esposito, of Charles A. Esposito, LLC, and Tania R. Schmidt-Alpers of Tania R. Schmidt-Alpers, P.A., St. Augustine, for Appellee.


Leland V. Dawson, Jr. appeals the trial court's judgment dissolving his marriage to Toni G. Dawson. We affirm.

In a dissolution proceeding, the trial court possesses broad discretion to do equity between the parties. Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197, 1202 (Fla. 1980); Doyle v. Doyle, 789 So.2d 499, 501 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). The standard of review is whether the trial court abused its discretion. Canakaris, 382 So.2d at 1202-03. In reviewing a dissolution judgment, this Court looks at the judgment as a whole in determining whether the trial court abused its discretion. Hamlet v. Hamlet, 583 So.2d 654, 657 (Fla. 1991). "It is not the function of the appellate court to substitute its judgment for that of the trial court through reevaluation of the evidence. Rather, the test is whether the judgment of the trial court is supported by competent evidence." Deakyne v. Deakyne, 460 So.2d 582, 583 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984) (citing Kuvin v. Kuvin, 442 So.2d 203 (Fla. 1983)). Given the broad discretion afforded the trial court in making child custody decisions and distributing marital property, we find no error.

AFFIRMED.

ORFINGER, LAWSON and EVANDER, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Dawson v. Dawson

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 23, 2007
948 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)
Case details for

Dawson v. Dawson

Case Details

Full title:Leland V. DAWSON, Jr., Appellant, v. Toni G. DAWSON, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District

Date published: Feb 23, 2007

Citations

948 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

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