Opinion ID: 2457177
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Funding of James Mason Trust

Text: Finally, Mrs. Mason argues that the chancery court erred in finding that [t]he James Mason Trust was funded with funds and property received by Mr. Mason through his inheritance from his mother and, therefore, not marital property. Property received by gift, bequest, devise, or descent is not marital property subject to equal division upon divorce. Ark.Code Ann. § 9-12-315(b)(1) (Repl.1993); Gorchik v. Gorchik, 10 Ark.App. 331, 663 S.W.2d 941 (1984), overruled on other grounds in Liles v. Liles, 289 Ark. 159, 711 S.W.2d 447 (1986). Mrs. Mason cites Aldridge v. Aldridge, 28 Ark.App. 175, 773 S.W.2d 103 (1989), for the principle that the burden is on the party who asserts an interest in property to establish that it is in fact separate property not subject to division. At the time that the chancery court's decree was entered, the James Mason Trust contained the amount of $75,000. This figure, Mrs. Mason maintains, is substantially more than the $34,066.67 shown by the probate records to have been his share of his mother's estate. Mrs. Mason urges that the chancery court should have required Mr. Mason to account for the funds over and above the $34,066.66 from his mother. According to Mr. Mason's testimony, he received $30,000 from his mother's will, another $30,000 in cash from his father, and $15,000 from the sale of his mother's house. On that basis, the chancellor made his finding. Although appellate courts review chancery cases de novo on the record, a decree is not reversed unless the chancellor's findings are clearly erroneous or clearly against a preponderance of the evidence, and, because the question of preponderance turns heavily on the credibility of the witnesses, deference is accorded the superior position of the chancellor in this regard. Gorchik v. Gorchik, supra . It cannot be said that the chancellor's finding that the James Mason Trust was Mr. Mason's personal property was clearly erroneous.