ROBERT T. BACON v. TAMMY L. BACON

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA ROBERT T. BACON, Appellant, NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED v. CASE NO. 1D06-4043 TAMMY L. BACON, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed May 21, 2007. An appeal from the Circuit Court of Santa Rosa County. Marci L. Goodman, Judge. James L. Chase, Pensacola, for Appellant. Laura E. Keene of Beroset & Keene, Pensacola, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. [T]he law is well settled that an alimony award may be modified only upon a determination that the needs of the receiving spouse, as originally established by the parties standard of living during the marriage, have changed . . . . A judgment providing for automatic increases in alimony violates this principle because it allows alimony to be increased, and the award thereby modified, without a determination of change in the recipient s need. Hamilton v. Hamilton, 552 So. 2d 929, 931 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (citations omitted). Here, a discrepancy exists between the circuit court s final dissolution order and the parties property settlement agreement regarding which party will be responsible for payments on the Dodge Durango. Regardless of which party makes the vehicle payments, one thing is certain the former wife s needs will not increase upon the vehicle obligation being paid. Accordingly, we strike the final order s prospective, automatic $800 per month increase in alimony. The order is affirmed in all other respects. AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part. BARFIELD, KAHN, and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR. 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.