Opinion ID: 1296720
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Girls' Checking Accounts

Text: As stated above, Vicki took the equity in her premarital residence in lieu of four years of child support from her previous husband. When Vicki's prior husband was once again required to make child support payments, C.B. suggested that one-half of each monthly payment of $300 per child be placed into an account to be accumulated for the girls' higher education. Thereafter, whenever possible, $150 a month was placed into an account for each of the girls, leaving only $300 each month for child support expenses, even though it was costing $1,000 to $1,200 a month to support both children. The trial court found these accounts to be property of the children and not marital assets. See Finding No. 14 in Addendum. C.B. alleges that the court erred in not treating these accounts as marital assets. He points out that the dedicated use of this money was not sacrosanct. If funds were needed, it was used for household expenses, although C.B. kept track of it to ensure that it was replaced. If the family did not need it one month, the entire $600 would be placed in the accounts. However, if the budget did not balance, the child support was freely used for expenditures both big and small. Thus, C.B. contends that these savings accounts were to be used in the marriage. However, as Vicki points out, these were dedicated accounts from which every withdrawal by the marriage was documented and eventually replaced. We hold that the record provides sufficient support so that the trial court's Finding that the accounts were not marital property was not an abuse of discretion and should thus be affirmed.