- 6 - Florida court would decide it. See Commissioner v. Estate of Bosch, 387 U.S. 456, 465 (1967). In the absence of a decision by the highest court, we must apply what we “find to be the state law, after giving ‘proper regard’ to relevant rulings of other courts of the State.” Id. With respect to permanent periodic alimony, it is clear under Florida law that a payor’s obligation to make payments ceases upon the death of the payee. See Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197, 1202 (Fla. 1980). In our review of Florida law we have found no case in which the Supreme Court of Florida directly held that the obligation to pay support under a temporary order likewise ceases upon the death of the payee. We are convinced, however, that the court would find that the general rule applicable to permanent periodic alimony also applies to temporary support. There is no compelling distinction--between permanent periodic alimony and support awarded under a temporary decree-- which would cause the former, but not the latter, to cease upon the payee spouse’s death. On the contrary, the temporary nature of the order suggests that the payments would not have survived petitioner. The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, relied upon this point when it recently addressed a similar issue in Faile v. Fleming, 763 So.2d 459 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2000). In that case, the court found that an award ofPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011