TN Husband Moved to Hawaii Pilfered Wife’s Money But Must Pay It Back
Tennessee law case summary on marital property, classification, and division in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Ann Claudia Short Bowers v Frederick Allen Bowers – Tennessee property division law
In the case of Ann Bowers, wife and Frederick Bowers, husband, an appeal came to the court regarding the division of property and the subsequent dissipation of proceeds from the sale of the property. The couple married on April 7, 2001. It was the second marriage for the wife and the third for the husband. The husband divorced twice and her first husband widowed the wife.
The wife brought into the marriage a daughter and significant financial assets including a home, called Loma Drive, that she shared with her first husband. Husband entered the marriage with a daughter and significant financial assets including a yacht and property in Oklahoma. The husband and his daughter moved into the wife’s home after the marriage. The wife, an attorney in Knoxville, lived there with her daughter. The husband was retired and disabled. However, he was awarded a significant financial settlement for $900,000. He used the profits from the sale of his Oklahoma property and settlement funds to trade stocks daily.
During the marriage, the parties kept their finances separate. The wife paid the mortgage and expenses for the home and the husband made payments on the yacht. The husband did finance a renovation on the basement of the home and in 2002 suggested a refinance of the home to lower interest rates. During the refinance, the husband’s name was added to the deed, though the wife continued to make payments on the property solely. Afterward, the husband requested the wife reimburse him for the investment in the renovation to the basement. The wife complied.
In 2005, the wife purchased a home, known as Navigator Pointe making a sizable down payment and refinancing the rest. The husband was not liable for the mortgage but was added to the deed. The parties then sold the Loma Drive property and received a check for $172,114.96 as proceeds from the sale, payable to both parties. The wife told the husband to deposit the check, which he did into his private checking account and never gave the wife the funds.
In August of 2009, the couple separated and the wife filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. Husband denied any inappropriate marital conduct. This ended the couples 8 year marriage.
During the lower court’s trial, the wife stated she believed the money from the sale of Loma Drive was deposited and sitting in an account. However, the husband had spent more than $56,000 of it on the boat and related expenses and more than $50,000 of it to pay toward credit cards. The remaining funds were sent to an unknown creditor. The wife stated the marriage was very bad from 2005 onward and that the husband left for Hawaii in September of 2005. He spent very little time at the new home. After Christmas of 2008, she started to plan for divorce.
The husband stated he did put the funds from the sale of the property into his account and that he listed it as separate property following the complaint for divorce.
The trial court determined that the Loma Drive property was the wife’s separate property and the husband dissipated the proceeds from the sale of it. The court awarded the wife a judgment against the husband for $88,289, which was the proceeds he received minus the division of marital assets. It provided that Navigator Pointe was marital property and the wife was entitled t two-thirds of the net equity value.
The appeals court, the husband stated he believed the Loma Drive property was marital property based on the investment he made into it and that he was on the deed. While both the trial court and the appeals court noted the Loma Drive property created a rebuttable presumption that the wife gifted the property to the husband, the financial obligations remained solely that of the wife’s. The appeals court ruled there was no err in this award and the Loma Drive property was the separate property of the wife.
The husband further claimed the trial court erred in awarding Loma Drive’s proceeds to the wife since the money became commingled with money in his account and therefore became marital property. He also claims the lower court erred in awarding the wife funds for money that no longer existed. The appeals court rejected the claim that the funds were marital property. The appeals court required the husband to repay the spent funds.
No. E2011-00978-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 17, 2012).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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