Opinion ID: 2364278
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: procedure and background

Text: [¶ 2] Stephen and Deborah were married in 1988, and Deborah filed a complaint for divorce in 2001. No children were born of the marriage. The divorce hearing was held on August 29, 2002. The court issued a judgment distributing various items of marital property, including real estate, motor vehicles, and pension accounts, and naming the party responsible for the various items of marital debt. The court awarded Stephen marital property valued at $123,783 and ordered him to pay debts of $15,489. Deborah was awarded marital property valued at $97,433 and ordered to pay debts of $18,260. In addition, the court ordered Stephen to pay Deborah $14,560.50 to equalize the distribution of marital property. [1] This resulted in both parties realizing a net distribution of the marital estate of $93,733.50. [¶ 3] The court further determined that a brokerage account containing assets of approximately $60,000 was Deborah's nonmarital property and set it apart to her. [2] Stephen appealed, and the sole issue on appeal is the court's decision that the brokerage account is Deborah's nonmarital property. The court did not make findings of fact, and none were requested. [¶ 4] The brokerage account was opened in 1997. The title on the account is Deborah L. Spooner and Stephen Spooner JT/ WROS. JT/WROS is a common acronym for joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. A second joint account was opened at the same time with Stephen's name listed first. Beginning in 1997, for each of three years, Deborah's mother transferred stock valued at $10,000 into each account from her trust. The proceeds of both accounts were fully expended by the parties for marital debts, but the accounts remained open. [¶ 5] Deborah's mother died in 1999, and in June 2000, Deborah received shares of stock valued at approximately $150,000 from her mother's trust. Deborah, as one of the trustees of her mother's trust, transferred her share of the trust stock into the joint brokerage account that had Deborah's name listed first. Deborah testified that her reason for putting the stock into the joint account was because she thought that an account in one person's name would be in limbo if the person died. She also testified that she considered the account to be hers. [¶ 6] At the time of the divorce hearing, stock valued at approximately $60,000 remained in the joint brokerage account. Approximately $30,000 to $40,000 of the stock value had been spent to pay off Deborah's and Stephen's credit card debt. They both had credit cards in their own names, and they had accumulated substantial balances. Funds from the account were used also for down payments on vehicles for both Stephen and Deborah, repayment of a car loan, Deborah's dental work, and repayment of a college loan for Deborah's son. Market forces also contributed to the reduction of the account value.