BROWARD COUNTY — The 4th District Court of Appeal has found in favor of a Florida woman in a divorce case regarding stocks and remanded an alimony claim to a lower court, according to the recent opinion.
Nancy Hua appealed a Broward County Circuit Court decision, claiming the court should have given her permanent alimony, was incorrect in considering certain stock as “nonmarital,” was wrong in saying that Hua and her ex-husband, Dennis Tsung, must pay the money they received after selling a rental property and should have awarded her attorney’s fees.
Tsung ended the 17-year marriage in 2013, according to court records. Tsung earned the main source of the family's income while Hua was a stay-at-home mother. At the time he filed, Tsung lived in Brazil with a girlfriend. The couple received expensive gifts during their time together from Tsung’s family, including a home valued at up to $700,000, court records state.
Hua and Tsung bought a rental home together that was valued at up to $350,000. The husband’s father gave him $260,000 to cover expenses when they could no longer afford the mortgage on the rental property. Tsung’s father was a key factor of why the family was able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, according to court documents. Considering this and the fact that Hua didn’t have income and said her living expenses were more than $20,000 a month, the trial court gave her temporary alimony of $2,500 a month for two years, along with an “unspecified” amount of rental income from the property they had. Tsung was also responsible for paying up to $12,000 for Hua to go to nursing school.
The appeals court reversed the trial court’s decision to determine whether Tsung could pay alimony, as well as consider permanent alimony for Hua because of their long-term marriage, among other factors.
Hua also said Tsung owned 34 percent of shares of DSC Holdings Limited, worth more than $1 million. According to court records, she thinks that this should be distributed and the appeals court confirmed after the husband’s father testified that he put the stock in Tsung's name to avoid paying a “death tax” in Taiwan.
The appeals court also remanded the trial court’s decision in this matter, saying that the trial court made the wrong decision when it ordered both parties to pay back the husband’s father after selling the rental property. The court also overturned Hua's request that Tsung pays her attorney’s fees.