Opinion ID: 2520463
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Anvik home and lot

Text: The trial court determined that the Anvik house and lot were part of the marital estate and awarded them to Ernest. In his initial disclosures, Ernest stated that he acquired the house in Anvik in 1983. At the trial, Ernest testified that he agreed to buy the house from his nephew around 1978. Judy testified that she and Ernest had bought the house together in 1989 or 1990. According to Judy's testimony, the couple used the Anvik house as their permanent home although they spent winters in Anchorage. Judy testified that she rented out the house in Anvik while Ernest was in prison, listing herself as the owner. The trial court did not make a determination about when the couple purchased the house; therefore, it is possible that Ernest purchased the house before the coverture period, which began when the couple began living together in 1986. But it does not matter whether Ernest purchased the house before the coverture period began, because the trial court noted that the couple remodeled the home and found that [t]he parties lived in the home as a family. In Cox v. Cox , we stated that [s]eparate property becomes marital ... upon a showing that the parties intended to treat the property as marital. [23] Factors to be considered by a trial court in making this determination include: (1) the use of the property as the parties' personal residence, (2) the ongoing maintenance and management of the property by both parties, (3) placing the title of the property in joint ownership, and (4) whether the non-titled owner's credit has been used to improve the property. [24] It is not necessary for all four factors to be present in order for the court to find that the property was marital property. [25] Under the standard set forth in Cox, evidence that the couple had improved the home and lived in it together was sufficient for the superior court to determine that the home was marital property, even accepting Ernest's contention that he acquired the home prior to the period of cohabitation.