Berol v. Berol
| Decision Date | 16 November 1950 |
| Docket Number | 31379. |
| Citation | 223 P.2d 1055,37 Wn.2d 380 |
| Parties | BEROL, v. BEROL et al. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Department 1.
Koenigsberg & Oseran, Seattle, for appellant.
Preston Thorgrimson & Horowitz, Seattle, for respondents.
This appeal is prosecuted by the wife from the portion of the divorce decree adjudicating the property rights of the parties.
The Berol family business relationships were so unusual and so complex that no good purpose would be served by detailing them. An examination of the testimony and exhibits leaves us with an appreciation of the trial court's comment that the case is not one which lends itself to a property division on the basis of mathematical exactness. Although there are some eleven assignments of error, there are only two situations where it can be said that the trial court erred or abused its discretion, one in holding that a certain life insurance policy was the separate property of the husband, and the other in refusing to allow the wife interest on deferred payments of money awarded to her as her share of the property.
The policy on the life of the husband, with his mother as beneficiary, was taken out more fourteen months after the parties were married. There was no attempt to establish that the payment made on the policy, a lump sum of $4,467.94, came from the husband's separate funds, save his bald statement to that effect. The burden rests upon the spouse asserting the separate character of the property acquired by purchase during the marriage status to establish his or her claim by clear and satisfactory evidence. E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. v. Garrison, 13 Wash.2d 170, 174, 124 P.2d 939, and cases cited therein. The requirement of clear and satisfactory evidence is not met by the mere self-serving declaration of the spouse claiming the property in question that he acquired it from separate funds and a showing that separate funds were available for that purpose. Separate funds used for such a purpose should be traced with some degree of particularity.
It is our view that the husband failed to establish the separate character of the insurance policy in question, and that its cash value of $4,961.82 should have been considered a community asset, and that the money award to the wife should be increased by one half of that amount, i. e., $2,480.91.
We are further of the opinion that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow the wife interest on the deferred payment of $6,100 (which we have increased to $8,580.91), and that the rate should be that which judgments ordinarily bear, i e., six per cent. ...
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White v. White
...at 737, 675 P.2d 1207; Hurd, 69 Wash.App. at 38, 848 P.2d 185. 12. Hadley, 88 Wash.2d at 662, 565 P.2d 790; Berol v. Berol, 37 Wash.2d 380, 381-82, 223 P.2d 1055 (1950); Scott v. Currie, 7 Wash.2d 301, 305-06, 109 P.2d 526 (1941); Hurd, 69 Wash. App. at 50, 848 P.2d 185; Pollock v. Pollock,......
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Property Transfers & Distribution of Assets and Liabilities
...failure to award interest, the court noted that “A person who owes money normally pays interest.” Likewise, the court in Berol v. Berol , 223 P.2d 1055 (Wash. 1950), in reversing a failure to award interest: We see no good reason why the husband should have the use of the wife’s money in hi......
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Table of Cases
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Chapter §3.3 Tracing and Commingling; Earnings and Business Profits
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