Court Opinion

ID: 9756885
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:06:16.887278+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:32.607261
License: Public Domain

McDERMOTT, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority to the limited extent that the property acquired prior to the marriage was subject to partition. However, I believe the majority creates the erroneous impression that on remand the entire value of the property will be subject to partition. As I read the applicable section of *62the Divorce Code, while property jointly acquired prior to the marriage may not be marital property, any “increase in the value during the marriage”1 is considered as part of marital property subject to the Court’s power to equitably divide. Therefore on remand the only property at issue in this case should be the equity which existed at the time the marriage commenced.

. 23 Pa.C.S. § 401(e)(1).

. This issue would not have existed if Appellant only pursued this matter in the context of a request for imposition of a constructive trust. Under a constructive trust theory, the property would be excluded as non-marital property.