Bosone v. Bosone
| Decision Date | 14 March 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 9237-2-III,9237-2-III |
| Citation | 53 Wn.App. 614,768 P.2d 1022 |
| Parties | Golda H. BOSONE, Respondent, v. Robert J. BOSONE and Jane Doe Bosone, husband and wife, and Norma Drovetto and John Doe Drovetto, wife and husband, Appellants. |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
Lauren Dobbs, Dobbs, Moore & Kirkevold, Yakima, for appellants.
Robert Bjur, Hovis, Cockrill, Weaver & Bjur, Yakima, for respondent.
Robert J. Bosone and Norma R. Drovetto 1 appeal the trial court's order granting summary judgment and judgment voiding a deed executed by their father and quieting title to real estate in the name of their father's surviving spouse, Golda H. Bosone. They contend their father retained inter vivos power to transfer his separately owned real estate despite a community property agreement he had signed with Golda Bosone. We affirm.
Golda and Peter Bosone were married in 1965. They lived throughout the marriage in a home at 622 West Mead in Yakima. The parties agree that at the time of the marriage the home was the separate property of Peter Bosone.
On February 24, 1981, Golda and Peter Bosone entered into a community property agreement providing as follows:
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the love and affection of each of said parties for the other, and in consideration of their lives of mutual helpfulness, all property now owned by them, or either of them, and all property which may in the future be acquired by the parties hereto, or either of them, is and shall be community property, regardless of how the same may have been or shall be acquired. The date of acquirement, the manner of acquirement and all statements of either of said parties heretofore made respecting alleged separate property or affecting any property, are to be regarded and esteemed of no effect. Each of the parties hereto does hereby convey and quit claim to the community composed of both parties all property, real and personal now standing in the names of either of them, or which may hereafter be acquired by either of them as their community property.
IT IS FURTHER AGREED that in consideration of their lives of mutual helpfulness, in case of the death of said PETER (NMN) BOSONE, while GOLDA H. BOSONE survives, the whole of said property heretofore mentioned, together with all property by them, or either of them, hereafter acquired, shall at once vest in said GOLDA H. BOSONE, absolutely and forever. And, in the event of the death of said GOLDA H. BOSONE while the said PETER (NMN) BOSONE survives, the whole of the said property heretofore mentioned, together with all property by them, or either of them, hereafter acquired, shall at once vest in said PETER (NMN) BOSONE, absolutely and forever.
The parties hereto reserve the right to amend, revise or revoke this contract at any time in the future, by mutual consent.
This instrument is intended by the parties hereto to vest all property owned, or hereafter to be owned, by them, or either of them, in the community composed of them, and in the event of the death of either of them, to immediately vest in the survivor without delay or expense, and without the intervention of any court of whatsoever nature, all property of whatsoever nature or source, under the terms and provisions of Section 26.16.120 of the Revised Code of Washington.
On June 16, 1986, without the consent or knowledge of Golda Bosone, Peter Bosone deeded the home, "for and in consideration of love and affection", to Robert Bosone and Norma Drovetto, his children of a former marriage. After Peter Bosone's death on July 7, 1987, Ms. Drovetto and Robert Bosone listed the home for sale, and Golda Bosone initiated this action to quiet title in her name.
In granting Golda Bosone's motion for summary judgment, the court held when the community property agreement was executed, the home was immediately converted to community property. The court declared the deed void, and quieted title in favor of Golda Bosone.
The sole issue here is whether the community property agreement converted the home to community property on the date of execution. The document is a "three-pronged" community property agreement, in which spouses typically provide: (1) that property owned separately by either party is converted to community property; (2) that all property later acquired will be community property; and (3) that upon the death of one spouse all community property will vest in the survivor. See Lyon v. Lyon, 100 Wash.2d 409, 411, 670 P.2d 272 (1983); Cross, The Community Property Law in Washington (Revised 1985), 61 Wash.L.Rev. 13, at 101 (1986); Washington State Bar Ass'n, Community Property Deskbook § 18.7 (1977).
Robert Bosone and Ms. Drovetto contend, however, that the agreement is made pursuant to RCW 26.16.120, which authorizes agreements between spouses "to take effect upon the death of either". They reason that separate property would be converted to community property only upon the death of Peter or Golda Bosone. As a result, they argue, the home remained Peter Bosone's separate property, to do with as he...
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Marriage of Pletz, In re
...of the second prong. B. The first two prongs of a community property agreement are controlled by contract law, Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wash.App. 614, 617, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989) (quoting Neeley v. Lockton, 63 Wash.2d 929, 934, 389 P.2d 909 (1964)); Oltman, 14 U.Puget Sound L.Rev. at 53-54, even ......
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Marriage of Hurd, In re
...or their community property into separate property. Volz v. Zang, 113 Wash. 378, 381-84, 194 P. 409 (1920); Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wash.App. 614, 618, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989). However, to recognize any such agreement, our courts have required some evidence in writing of the mutual intention of t......
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Marriage of Schweitzer, Matter of
...agreements have been recognized to convert separate property to community property at the time they are signed. Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wash.App. 614, 617, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989); Merriman v. Curl, 8 Wash.App. 894, 901-02, 509 P.2d 765 (1973). In In re Marriage of Hadley, 88 Wash.2d 649, 654, 56......
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D'Aston v. D'Aston
...to the construction of written contracts in general are to be applied in construing a postnuptial agreement."); Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wash.App. 614, 768 P.2d 1022, 1024-25 (1989) ("a community property agreement is a contract, and effect should be given to the clearly expressed intent of the......
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Table of Cases
...Borst,41 Wn.2d 642, 251 P.2d 149 (1952): 6.3(2)(h) Bortle v.Osborne, 155 Wash. 585, 285 P. 425 (1930): 2.4, 6.5(15)(g) Bosone v.Bosone, 53 Wn.App. 614, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989): 4.17, 5.1(2) Botts, In reMarriage of, No. 22878-9-III, 128 Wn.App. 1024, 2005 WL 1540793 (June 30,2005): 3.4(1)(a) Bo......
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§5.1 Agreements As to The Character of Property
...See In re Estate of Verbeek, 2 Wn.App. 144, 467 P.2d 178 (1970); see also Marriage of Schweitzer, 81 Wn.App. 589; Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wn. App. 614, 768 P.2d 1022 A community property agreement that converted all property of either spouse to community property, and irrevocable wills that to......
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Chapter I. Community Property Agreements
...and domestic partners. See Chapter 1, note 5. 311 Reagh v. Dickey, 183 Wash. 564, 48 P.2d 941 (1935). 312 See Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wn. App. 614, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989) (inter vivos conversion of property under community property agreement controlled by general contract principles and not by a......
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Table of Cases
...In re, 126 Wash. 632, 219 P. 4 (1923): 355 [Page 448] Borrow's Will, In re, 123 Wash. 128, 212 P. 149 (1923): 163 Bosone v. Bosone, 53 Wn. App. 614, 768 P.2d 1022 (1989): 334, 336, 339 Bottger's Estate, In re, 14 Wn.2d 676, 129 P.2d 518 (1942): 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 74, 84, 85, 86, 90, 92, 10......