Sandra G. RUBERG, Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
v.
David C. RUBERG, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
*1149 Arnold D. Levine and Robert H. Mackenzie of Levine, Hirsch, Segall, Mackenzie & Friedsam, P.A., Tampa, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
David A. Maney and Patricia F. Kuhlman of Maney, Damsker, Jones, Kiely & Kuhlman, P.A. Tampa, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
CANADY, Judge.
In these consolidated appeals, the appellant/cross-appellee, Sandra G. Ruberg, challenges the following: the equitable distribution scheme set forth in a final judgment *1150 of marital dissolution; an order that only partially grants her motion for attorney's fees and costs with respect to the marital dissolution; and an order that denies her request for an increased alimony award. On cross-appeal, the appellee/cross-appellant, David C. Ruberg, challenges a provision of the final judgment of marital dissolution that requires him to maintain a $1,000,000 life insurance policy for the benefit of Mrs. Ruberg and an order that denies his request for a decrease in Mrs. Ruberg's alimony award. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
I. BACKGROUND
The parties were married in 1976. They have three adult children. During the marriage, the parties relocated several times to different parts of the country due to Mr. Ruberg's employment. The Ruberg family moved to Tampa in 1993, when Mr. Ruberg was hired as president and chief executive officer of Intermedia Communications, Inc.
On September 17, 1998, Mrs. Ruberg filed for divorce. A final judgment dissolving the parties' marriage was entered on October 18, 2000. The equitable distribution of the parties' marital assets did not occur, however, until April 5, 2001, when a second final judgment of marital dissolution was entered. That judgment reaffirmed and incorporated by reference the October 2000 dissolution judgment, awarded Mrs. Ruberg permanent monthly alimony, and divided and distributed the parties' marital assets.
A. Equitable Distribution
The April 2001 judgment awarded Mrs. Ruberg marital assets with a net value of $1,126,971. Those assets included, among other things, the marital home; a second residence the parties purchased for Mrs. Ruberg's elderly father; retirement, investment, and bank accounts that had been jointly owned by the parties; and $360,000, which Mr. Ruberg paid to Mrs. Ruberg during the pendency of the dissolution proceedings.
The April 2001 final judgment also provided for an equal division of 675,301 shares of Intermedia stock. That stock had been awarded to Mr. Ruberg in a series of option and restricted share grants during his employment with Intermedia. The trial court determined that one of those grants was awarded as a signing bonus when Mr. Ruberg began his employment with Intermedia and that the others constituted long-term incentive compensation to Mr. Ruberg. It was established that the block of 675,301 shares had vested and become exercisable prior to the filing date of Mrs. Ruberg's dissolution petition. The trial court determined those shares to be marital property subject to equitable distribution. The trial court, however, found that another 299,370 shares of stock options and 170,482 shares of restricted stock were unvested and constituted nonmarital property.
B. Alimony
The trial court went on to award Mrs. Ruberg $18,000 in permanent monthly alimony. The final judgment contains an extensive discussion of the testimony adduced by the parties concerning the economic factors to be considered under section 61.08(2), Florida Statutes (2001), in determining alimony. In its discussion, the trial court makes reference to evidence adduced by Mrs. Ruberg pointing to a monthly needbased on the parties' lifestyle during the marriagein excess of $45,000 (pretax). The trial court did not, however, make any specific findings regarding the amount of alimony needed by Mrs. Ruberg to maintain the standard of living she enjoyed during the marriage.
*1151 As security for the payment of the alimony, Mr. Ruberg was ordered to "maintain a $1,000,000 [term] life insurance policy (death benefits), of which Mrs. Ruberg [was] to be a beneficiary so long as [Mr. Ruberg was] obligated to pay Mrs. Ruberg permanent alimony." The judgment contains no findings related to the life insurance requirement.
The trial court reserved jurisdiction to revisit and reevaluate the alimony issue, if necessary. The trial court did so because, when the alimony award was entered, a merger between Intermedia and World-Com, Inc., was pending. The merger agreement specified that WorldCom's purchase price for Intermedia would be based on a stock price of thirty-nine dollars per share. Due to the volatility of the stock market at the time of the equitable distribution of the parties' marital assets and the uncertainty of whether the sale of Intermedia to WorldCom would actually closeor what the share price would be if it did closethe trial court indicated that "the [p]arties may or may not receive substantial value in the assets distributed to them." The trial court thus reserved jurisdiction "to adjust the amount of the permanent alimony award once the sale of Intermedia to WorldCom [was] concluded and th[e][c]ourt [was] able to determine the value of those assets received by Mrs. Ruberg as equitable distribution of marital assets." The trial court also reserved jurisdiction to determine Mrs. Ruberg's claim for attorney and expert witness fees and costs. On May 9, 2001, after the denial of the parties' respective motions for rehearing, Mrs. Ruberg timely appealed the final dissolution judgment, and Mr. Ruberg cross-appealed.
C. Attorney's Fees
On August 2, 2001, the trial court ruled on Mrs. Ruberg's fee motion. After considering each of the parties' financial resources and determining that Mr. Ruberg's future "earning ability [was] substantially superior to that of [Mrs. Ruberg]," the trial court entered an order directing Mr. Ruberg to pay a total of $241,949.15 toward Mrs. Ruberg's fees and costs. That sum was in addition to significant sums Mr. Ruberg had previously contributed to Mrs. Ruberg's attorney's fees during the pendency of the dissolution proceedings. The fee order provided that Mrs. Ruberg "shall be responsible for any other outstanding balances of fees and costs," and that her "request for reimbursement of any other fees and/or costs paid by her is denied." On August 28, 2001, Mrs. Ruberg timely appealed the trial court's fee order to this court.
D. Alimony Modification
Thereafter, the merger of Intermedia and WorldCom successfully closed. Thus, on November 12, 2001, this court relinquished jurisdiction as to the appeal from the final dissolution judgment to allow the trial court to consider the parties' respective motions for modification of the original alimony award in accord with the reservation of jurisdiction set forth in the final dissolution judgment.
On March 11, 2002, the trial court entered its order denying Mrs. Ruberg's motion to increase and Mr. Ruberg's motion to decrease the alimony award. Upon determining that the then-current net value of Mrs. Ruberg's WorldCom stock was $2,417,246based on a share price of fifteen dollarsthe trial court refused to increase her monthly alimony award. The trial court likewise refused to decrease Mrs. Ruberg's alimony, despite Mr. Ruberg's argument that the proceeds of Mrs. Ruberg's WorldCom stock would warrant the imputation of significant income to her. *1152 The trial court ultimately found that Mr. Ruberg failed to produce "evidence of a prudent investment portfolio for [Mrs. Ruberg]." The trial court nonetheless determined that Mrs. Ruberg was entitled to attorney's fees and costs in the postjudgment proceedings, based on the disparity of the parties' respective incomes and assets. Mr. Ruberg was ordered to pay a total of $45,060.92 for the fees and costs incurred by Mrs. Ruberg in litigating the reconsideration of her alimony award. Mrs. Ruberg timely appealed the order denying her request for modification of the alimony award, and Mr. Ruberg cross-appealed.
II. ANALYSIS
The parties raise certain issues which are without merit and do not warrant discussion. We limit our comments to the following issues.
A. Equitable Distribution of Stock Options and Restricted Shares
Mrs. Ruberg contends the trial court erred in failing to find that Mr. Ruberg's unvested Intermedia stock options and restricted shares constituted marital property subject to equitable distribution. She argues that those unvested shares were marital assets, because they were rewards for Mr. Ruberg's past job performance that is, his job performance during the course of the parties' marriageand thus constituted deferred compensation. We disagree with Mrs. Ruberg's argument, because we conclude that the stock options and restricted shares at issue were granted in consideration of Mr. Ruberg's future job performance and not based on his past efforts.
Section 61.075(5)(a)4 defines "[m]arital assets" to include "[a]ll vested and nonvested benefits, rights, and funds accrued during the marriage in ... deferred compensation ... plans and programs." As the term implies, deferred compensation consists of funds already earned but for which payment is deferred. For equitable distribution purposes, a deferred compensation account is considered marital property to the extent it consists of contributions from funds earned during the marriage. Boyett v. Boyett,
In the April 2001 final dissolution judgment, the trial court specifically found that the unvested stock options and restricted shares constituted incentives that looked to future labor and "continued superior performance" by Mr. Rubergnot past performance. The trial court's finding in that regard was based primarily on the provisions of the Intermedia 1992 stock option plan document, the 1996 long-term incentive plan document, and the individual "incentive" stock option and restricted share agreements executed by Mr. Ruberg and Intermedia.
Intermedia's 1992 plan document provided that Intermedia's board of directors or a compensation committee composed of at least three board members was authorized to offer stock options for the purpose of "attract[ing] and retain[ing] the best personnel *1153 available ... and to provide additional incentive to such employees to exert their maximum efforts toward the success of the [c]ompany and its subsidiary corporations." When Mr. Ruberg was hired by Intermedia, he was awardedpursuant to the 1992 planan initial stock option grant that was intended as a signing bonus for coming on board with the company and to augment his starting salary, which was lower than the industry standard. That grantwhich is not at issue in this appealwas specifically set forth in Mr. Ruberg's employment contract.
All subsequent option and restricted share grants to Mr. Ruberg were awarded in separate agreements executed pursuant to either Intermedia's 1992 stock option plan or Intermedia's 1996 long-term incentive plan. The stated purpose of the 1996 plan, like that of the 1992 plan, was "to attract and retain and provide incentives to employees, officers, directors[,] and consultants of [Intermedia], and to thereby increase overall shareholder value." Each of the individual stock option agreements executed between Intermedia and Mr. Ruberg recited that the option grant was intended "as an incentive for [Mr. Ruberg] to advance the interests of the company." In each case, the agreement provided that the options would vest in specified monthly increments and that "vesting [would] cease to continue upon any termination of [e]mployment."
The decision in Jensen v. Jensen,
Although the factual circumstances in Jensen appear to be similar to those involved in the instant case, there is a critical dissimilarity. The Jensen court focused on a circumstance that is not present in the instant casenamely, the fact that the options granted to Jensen "represent [Jensen's] past commendable employment service to Cisco Systems that he provided during the marriage." Id. at 318-19. We agree that options can be a form of deferred compensation. We also agree that options granted prior to the cutoff date for the determination of marital assets maydepending on the circumstancesbe marital property even if they remain unvested as of the cutoff date. But not all options granted prior to the cutoff date for the determination of marital assets are deferred compensation. The critical factor in determining the nature of options that have not vested by the cutoff *1154 date is the predominant purpose for which the options were given. The dispositive issue is whether the grant was made in consideration for actions undertaken during the marriage and before the applicable cutoff date.
We agree with various cases from other jurisdictions which hold that the status of such unvested options turns on the factual issue of whether the unvested stock options and restricted shares were primarily awarded as deferred compensation for past service or as an incentive for future services. See, e.g., Wendt v. Wendt,
We acknowledge that there is an element of compensation for future services in all option grants that are subject to vesting contingent on continued employment. The requirement of continued employment indicates that future services are to some extent in view when the grant is made. But that does not mean that all options that are subject to such future vesting are awarded for future services and are thus not deferred compensation. See Jensen,
*1155 In the instant case, the record shows that the plan documents clearly provided for option and restricted share grants to employees for future services. Likewise, the individual agreements which made the grants clearly indicate that the grants were intended as incentives for Mr. Ruberg to remain employed with the company, to render future services, and to otherwise advance the future interests of the company. Further, the monthly incremental vesting schedules for the stock options and restricted shares suggest that each monthly increment of stock options and restricted shares vested as it was earned. All the pertinent circumstances support the conclusion that the trial court correctly determined that the stock options and restricted shares that remained unvested as of the filing date of the dissolution petition constituted separate, nonmarital property that were mere expectancies for Mr. Ruberg until he earned them. See Miller,
B. The Alimony Award
1. Monthly Alimony
Mrs. Ruberg also contends that her $18,000 monthly alimony award is inadequate. She claims she established her monthly need as $35,000after taxes. While the final judgment discusses some of the alimony evidence presented by the partiesand the quality thereof-it does not make express factual findings as to Mrs. Ruberg's need to support the $18,000 award. The trial court thus failed to comply with the requirement of section 61.08(1), that "[i]n all dissolution actions[] the court shall include findings of fact relative to [the statutory factors] supporting an award or denial of alimony." A trial court's failure to make specific factual findings with regard to alimony "may preclude meaningful appellate review[] and result in a case having to be reversed and remanded." Walsh v. Walsh,
2. Life Insurance Requirement
On his cross-appeal from the final dissolution judgment, Mr. Ruberg contends the *1156 trial court erred in requiring him to maintain a $1,000,000 life insurance policy for the benefit of the wife as a way of insuring her alimony needs. Without explanation, the final judgment states that the husband is required to maintain the policy "so long as he is obligated to pay Mrs. Ruberg permanent alimony." Mr. Ruberg argues there is no basis for the life insurance requirement and that the payment of $1,000,000 at his death in essence requires him to continue paying alimony from the grave.
Section 61.08(3) provides:
To the extent necessary to protect an award of alimony, the court may order any party who is ordered to pay alimony to purchase or maintain a life insurance policy or a bond, or to otherwise secure such alimony award with other assets which may be suitable for that purpose.
We conclude that the requirements of the statute have not been met because the instant record contains nothing to establish that the $1,000,000 life insurance policy was "necessary to protect [the] award of alimony."
In Sobelman v. Sobelman,
In Sasnett v. Sasnett,
The Fifth District reached a similar conclusion in Richardson v. Richardson,
We have held that a life insurance or other security requirement is only appropriate where "special circumstances" are shown to exist. See Pinion v. Pinion,
In the present case, as the trial court specifically found, there is no evidence of arrearage. There is also no record evidence to establish that Mrs. Ruberg is disabled or suffers from any serious health problems. In fact, the trial court expressly found both parties to be in good health. There is no evidence that Mrs. Ruberg is unemployable or that her financial assets will be insufficient to sustain her in the event of Mr. Ruberg's untimely death. There is thus no basis in the record for concluding that Mrs. Ruberg would face dire economic circumstances if Mr. Ruberg died. And there is nothing in the record to show that Mrs. Ruberg demonstrated any other special circumstances that would justify the trial court's imposition of the life insurance requirement. Thus, because there is no basis in the record to support the requirement that Mr. Ruberg maintain a $1,000,000 life insurance policy to secure the alimony award, we reverse on this point and strike the life insurance provision from the final dissolution judgment. See Solomon, 28 Fla. L. Weekly at D1961; Lapham,
C. Attorney's Fees
Mrs. Ruberg challenges an order that partially denies her request for attorney's fees and costs expended as a result of the trial court proceedings. The record shows that Mr. Ruberg has contributed enormously to Mrs. Ruberg's litigation fees and costs. The record also shows that Mrs. Ruberg has sufficient assets to pay her attorney's fees-as this court previously found in an order issued on June 11, 2002, reversing a trial court order granting Mrs. Ruberg temporary appellate attorney's fees. See also Stoler v. Stoler,
D. Modification of Alimony
Mrs. Ruberg contends the trial court erred in failing to increase her alimony award. On cross-appeal, Mr. Ruberg contends the trial court erred in failing to decrease the alimony award. Because we have determined that remand is necessary to revisit Mrs. Ruberg's alimony award, we need not address this issue. Our affirmance of the trial court's denial of the motions for modification submitted by both Mrs. Ruberg and Mr. Ruberg is without *1158 prejudice to the further consideration on remand of the issues they each raised with respect to modification.
III. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, the final judgment of marital dissolution is reversed only with respect to Mrs. Ruberg's monthly alimony award and the provision that requires Mr. Ruberg to maintain a $1,000,000 life insurance policy to secure the alimony award. The issue of monthly alimony is therefore remanded for further proceedings. The final dissolution judgment is affirmed in all other respects, as are the order partially denying Mrs. Ruberg's request for attorney's fees and costs and the order denying the parties' respective motions to modify the alimony award.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FULMER and CASANUEVA, JJ., Concur.
NOTES
Notes
[1] In this case we are not called on to address the circumstance in which the pertinent facts do not establish either that the grant was primarily for past service or primarily for future service. See, e.g., Wendt,
[2] We note that the division and classification of the particular options and restricted shares as marital and nonmarital was simplified in this case by the fact that the options and restricted shares vested monthly as they were earned. It has therefore not been necessary for us to address the appropriate methodology for allocating options that were earned before the applicable cutoff date but remained unvested. See, e.g., In re Marriage of Short,
