James Lynch v. Michelle Lynch
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 6, 2026
Docket5D2025-3002
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Case No. 5D2025-3002
LT Case No. 05-2022-DR-043599
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JAMES LYNCH,
Appellant,
v.
MICHELLE LYNCH,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County.
Robert Alan Segal, Judge.
James Lynch, Temple, GA, pro se.
No Appearance for Appellee.
November 6, 2026
HARRIS, J.
Appellant, James Lynch (“Former Husband”), appeals the
trial court’s Final Judgment Dissolution of Marriage arguing inter
alia that the court failed to identify and allocate marital liabilities.
Because the trial court did not make the requisite findings as to
identification and allocation of liabilities, we remand for the court
to include such findings. However, Former Husband has failed to
demonstrate error on any of the other issues presented. We
therefore affirm the Final Judgment in all other respects.
In this appeal, Former Husband argues that the Final
Judgment failed to allocate the marital debts, including the
marital credit card balances, vehicle loans, and additional
liabilities as reflected in his financial affidavit. He correctly argues
that, after identifying assets and liabilities, the court is required
to classify each as marital or nonmarital and then distribute those
assets and liabilities. See Jones v. Jones, 413 So. 3d 242, 243 (Fla.
5th DCA 2025). The “failure to make sufficient findings regarding
value of property and identification of marital assets and debts
constitutes reversible error and requires remand for appropriate
findings to be made.” Raphael v. Raphael, 221 So. 3d 687, 687 (Fla.
4th DCA 2017) (quoting Patino v. Patino, 122 So. 3d 961, 963 (Fla.
4th DCA 2013)); see also § 61.075(3)(c), Fla. Stat. (2025) (providing
distribution of marital liabilities shall include specific written
findings of fact as to the identification of the liabilities and
designation of which spouse shall be responsible for each liability).
Former Husband raised this issue in his motion for rehearing and
thus preserved it. See Williams v. Williams, 152 So. 3d 702, 704
(Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (“[W]here an error by the court appears for the
first time on the face of a final order, a party must alert the court
of the error via a motion for rehearing or some other appropriate
motion in order to preserve it for appeal.”).
The Final Judgment does not specifically identify or classify
any liabilities, only stating that each party shall be solely
responsible for any liability in that party’s name. Notably, Former
Husband’s 2025 financial affidavit identified multiple liabilities.
Because the court did not include the requisite findings, we
remand for the trial court to include such findings. See Jones, 413
So. 3d at 244 (holding court committed fundamental error on face
of judgment by not making specific written findings of fact that
identify, classify, value, and distribute the parties’ assets and
liabilities).
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED.
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MAKAR and SOUD, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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