Opinion ID: 4282325
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prenuptial Agreement

Text: ¶43. The chancellor rejected Tanya’s “extensive and all-encompassing commingling and familial use claims” as “unenforceable and inequitable.” Because the parties clearly intended through the prenuptial agreement to keep their separate property separate, the chancellor found there was “no way the scope of equitable distribution, as sought by [Tanya,] can be granted.” Relying on Court of Appeals precedent, Long v. Long, 928 So. 2d 1001, 1003 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006), the chancellor found Tanya’s request to expand the scope of marital assets based on commingling was incompatible with the clear language of the enforceable prenuptial agreement. We agree. 18 ¶44. At first blush, Tanya’s argument appeared valid. For if the funds deposited into the joint account became marital, what about the funds transferred out? But in delving into Tanya’s argument on remand and in her second appeal, it becomes apparent that Tanya made no real attempt to trace familial-use funds out of the joint account. Instead, she has cited commingling cases broadly as her reason for why Hob’s investment accounts and home are marital. Like the chancellor on remand, we find Tanya’s argument to be so overbroad that it can only be seen as an attempt to circumvent the clear terms of the enforceable prenuptial agreement. ¶45. As Tanya views “commingling,” not only did “the money deposited into the joint checking account bec[o]me a marital asset subject to equitable division because of its familial use,”9 but so did everything that came into contact with this money. In other words, it is not just the increased equity in Hob’s home that came from improvements paid for through joint account funds but the entire home that became marital. And since the home was marital, she further reasons the proceeds from the timber cut from the land the home sits on became marital. Further still, because those proceeds were deposited in the residential maintenance account, then that account became marital. Regarding Hob’s separate accounts, Tanya does not point to what portion is attributable to Hob’s separate property and what portion represents joint-account funds.10 Instead, as best we can understand, her argument 9 Sanderson I, 170 So. 3d 437. 10 A good example involves the $50,000 transferred from the joint account in March 2002 into Hob’s Smith Barney account, ending in 2803. Tanya does not rely on this transfer to argue the $50,000, plus interest, was marital and subject to distribution. Indeed, this account was not one of the investment accounts the first chancellor awarded to Hob as his 19 is that all of Hob’s separate income from his business became marital because it was designated primarily for family use. Thus, any account containing Hob’s separate income became marital. And any account containing funds from those accounts likewise became marital.11 ¶46. In other words, Tanya’s argument completely ignores the prenuptial agreement’s clear language that “any property hereinafter acquired by each that shall be traceable to proceeds or appreciation from their separate property shall . . . be free from any claim of the other that may arise by reason of the contemplated marriage.” Instead, she tries to use the joint account as a wedge to open the door to the entire value of the home and all of Hob’s accounts being marital—without explaining how these assets were “not acquired as a result of the separate property” and not “traceable to proceeds or appreciation from their separate property” and thus fell outside the scope of the prenuptial agreement. Sanderson I, 170 So. 3d at 432 (quoting the Sandersons’ prenuptial agreement). ¶47. In Long, the chancellor decided not to enforce the prenuptial agreement based on commingled property, which the agreement had not addressed. Long, 928 So. 2d at 1003. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding the chancellor in error for failing to enforce the separate property. And there is no indication in the record or from Tanya’s argument what happened to this account. Instead, Tanya relies on the $50,000 transfer to support her wider position that money from the joint account was commingled with Hob’s investment accounts, converting all funds in all accounts into marital assets. 11 Another example is Tanya’s claim that the “Church Bonds Flow Chart” is marital. The joint bank account is nowhere to found on this chart. Instead, as far as can be determined, Tanya claims all the accounts on the chart are marital, based on commingling upon commingling. 20 agreement. Id. Based on the language of the agreement, the parties clearly intended their separate property to remain separate. Thus, it was error for the chancellor to award the wife a portion of the marital home, which was built using funds the husband received from an eminent domain proceeding condemning his premarital, separate home. Id. ¶48. Here, the chancellor rightly recognized, based on the language of the Sandersons’ prenuptial agreement, the parties clearly intended that assets traceable to their separate property were to remain separate. And he found Tanya’s overly broad commingling argument would have rendered this clear provision meaningless. Because the chancellor’s decision was based on a reasonable application of the prenuptial agreement, we find no abuse of discretion.