Divorce Judgment Not Final Which Failed to Divide Property or Resolve Alimony
The circuit court entered a judgment divorcing the parties and called its order “a final judgment for the purposes of appeal.” The judgment, however, did “not adjudicate the wife’s claim for alimony.” Nor did it divide the couple’s property. While the order stated that the marital property “should be” divided equally between the parties, it did not “actually divide” that property. Instead, the order “appointed a special master to submit a report listing the parties’ marital assets” and then hold a hearing “regarding the division of those assets.”
The appellate court dismissed the husband’s appeal. Because the trial court did not dispose of the alimony claim, and did not divide the couple’s property, its order “was not a final judgment.” (The appellate court explained that, while the trial court had also neglected to adjudicate the husband’s request for attorney fees, this alone would not have prevented the judgment from being final and appealable, had the alimony and property issues been decided.)
The reviewing court also held that the judgment could not have been made final under Rule 54(b). The trial court neither cited “nor used the language of Rule 54(b).” Even if it had, the unresolved issues of alimony and property division would have prevented a “valid” Rule 54(b) certification. The Court of Civil Appeals concluded that it had “no jurisdiction over [the] appeal and, therefore,” dismissed it.