Sanders v. Sanders

• Decision Date: 21 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 4925.,4925.
• Citation: 396 S.C. 410,722 S.E.2d 15
• Parties: Latane S. SANDERS, Appellant/Respondent, v. Roy SANDERS, Respondent/Appellant.
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

396 S.C. 410

722 S.E.2d 15

Latane S. SANDERS, Appellant/Respondent,

v.Roy SANDERS, Respondent/Appellant.

No. 4925.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard Oct. 4, 2011.Decided Dec. 21, 2011.

Joseph M. Ramseur, Jr., of Greenville, for Appellant/Respondent.

Kimberly F. Dunham, of Greenville, for Respondent/Appellant.

WILLIAMS, J.

On appeal, Latane Sanders (Wife) contests the family court's decision to treat her AG Edwards account (AG account) as marital property. Alternatively, Wife argues the family court erred by dividing the marital estate equally. On cross-appeal, Roy Sanders (Husband) claims the family court erred in determining the date for valuation of the marital assets, valuing and awarding the marital home, and classifying certain items as nonmarital assets. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

Husband and Wife were married on August 9, 1973, and no children were born of the marriage. On the date of the final hearing, Husband was fifty-eight years old and Wife was fifty-seven years old. After thirty-five years of marriage, Wife discovered Husband engaged in an adulterous affair and filed a complaint, seeking among other things, alimony, equitable division of marital assets and debts, and attorney's fees and costs. Husband did not file a responsive pleading.

At the final hearing on March 31, 2009, the family court heard testimony from the parties and their witnesses. It also received into evidence numerous financial documents pertaining to the parties' income and inheritance, as well as evidence regarding the assets and debts of the marital estate.

In its final order, the family court granted Wife a divorce on the statutory grounds of adultery. Despite having liquidated the account six months prior to filing for divorce, the family court found Wife's AG account, which contained $96,000, was a marital asset and included this amount in the marital estate. The family court relied upon Wife's expert witness in valuing the marital residence and granted Wife ownership of the residence while requiring her to pay Husband his share of the value of their home. In addition, the family court valued Wife's three different retirement accounts as of the date of the final hearing based on “passive market depreciation” since the date of filing. The family court also found that items identified as Wife's nonmarital personal property on the Schedule A list were properly established as nonmarital assets.

Both parties filed Rule 59(e), SCRCP, motions. In an order dated July 24, 2009, the family court denied both parties' motions to reconsider. This cross-appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On appeal from the family court, this court reviews factual and legal issues de novo. Simmons v. Simmons, 392 S.C. 412, 414, 709 S.E.2d 666, 667 (2011); Lewis v. Lewis, 392 S.C. 381, 386, 709 S.E.2d 650, 651–52 (2011). Although this court reviews the family court's findings de novo, we are not required to ignore the fact that the trial court, who saw and heard the witnesses, was in a better position to evaluate their credibility and assign comparative weight to their testimony. Lewis, 392 S.C. at 385, 709 S.E.2d at 651–52. The burden is upon the appellant to convince this court that the family court erred in its findings. Id.

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Wife's AppealA. AG Edwards Account

Wife asserts the family court erred in finding her AG account to be a marital asset. We disagree.

Section 20–3–630 of the South Carolina Code (Supp.2010) defines marital property as “all real and personal property which has been acquired by the parties during the marriage and which is owned as of the date of filing or commencement of marital litigation ... regardless of how legal title is held....” However, “property acquired by either party by inheritance, devise, bequest, or gift from a party other than the spouse” is exempted as marital property under section 20–3–630. S.C.Code Ann. § 20–3–630(A)(1) (Supp.2010).

The nonmarital character of inherited property may be lost if “the property becomes so comingled as to be untraceable; is utilized by the parties in support of the marriage; or is titled jointly or otherwise utilized in such manner as to evidence an intent by the parties to make it marital property.” Hussey v. Hussey, 280 S.C. 418, 423, 312 S.E.2d 267, 270–71 (Ct.App.1984). The phrase “so comingled as to be untraceable ” is important because the mere comingling of funds does not automatically make them marital funds. Wannamaker v. Wannamaker, 305 S.C. 36, 40, 406 S.E.2d 180, 182 (Ct.App.1991).

At trial, Wife presented evidence that she inherited at least $196,000 from her mother, father, and sister. In addition, the record reveals several different instances in which Wife would deposit an inheritance check into the parties' joint checking account with Bank of America (joint account), only to transfer the exact sum a few days later into her AG account. Based on this information alone, we agree with Wife that the act of depositing an inheritance into the parties' joint account does not automatically render the inherited funds to be marital property. See Miller v. Miller, 293 S.C. 69, 71, 358 S.E.2d 710, 711 (1987) (“An unearned asset that is derived directly from nonmarital property also remains separate unless transmuted, as does property acquired in exchange for nonmarital property.”).

Here, however, the evidence shows the funds from the AG account were often used by Wife in support of the marriage, evincing her intent to make it marital property. See Johnson v. Johnson, 296 S.C. 289, 295, 372 S.E.2d 107, 110 (Ct.App.1988) (“As a general rule, transmutation is a matter of intent to be gleaned from the facts of each case.”). When questioned at trial, Wife conceded funds were used from the AG account to improve the marital residence, purchase furniture, cover medical expenses, go on vacation, and to pay for household expenses. Moreover, Wife admitted on cross-examination that money readily moved back and forth from Husband's business account into the joint account and from the AG account into the joint account to pay for marital expenses. Wife's concession was corroborated by the testimony of Husband's expert witness, Wyatt Henderson (Henderson), who informed the family court he was able to trace transactions in which money was moved from Husband's business account to the joint checking account and then the same day transferred into the AG account. In addition, Henderson could only trace $81,000 of the total amount Wife claimed to have inherited, rendering the remaining funds “so comingled as to be untraceable.” See Wannamaker, 305 S.C. at 40, 406 S.E.2d at 182. Based on this evidence, the family court found “Wife's AG Edwards account was commingled with marital funds to the extent the inherited and gifted funds can no longer be traced and identified.” We agree with the family court that Husband proved assets from the inheritance were transmuted into marital property. Husband demonstrated Wife commingled the inheritance funds with funds from the parties' marital account and used funds from the account to support the marriage. See Wannamaker, 305 S.C. at 39, 406 S.E.2d at 182 (holding that to show transmutation, the spouse claiming transmutation must produce objective evidence showing that, during the marriage, the parties regarded the property as the common property of the marriage). Moreover, during oral argument, counsel for Wife conceded that the record is unclear as to the total amount of either parties' exact contributions during their thirty-five year marriage. Therefore, we find no error.

In addition to finding the AG account part of the marital estate, the family court questioned Wife's withdrawals from this account. Shortly after discovering Husband's adultery, Wife withdrew funds in $9,000 increments from the AG account, totaling $96,000, to repay a debt she owed. Wife did not present any evidence of an actual obligation or a receipt acknowledging satisfaction of a $96,000 debt. Although the family court did not explicitly find Wife fraudulently withdrew $96,000 from the AG account, we find, in our review of the record, that Wife attempted to “unfairly extinguish ownership of marital property before the date of filing.” See Shorb v. Shorb, 372 S.C. 623, 632, 643 S.E.2d 124, 128 (Ct.App.2007). Accordingly, we affirm the family court's finding that Wife's AG account should be included in the marital estate.

B. Equitable Division of Marital Estate

Wife argues, in the alternative, that even if the AG account is to be included in the marital estate, the family court erred in dividing the marital estate equally. We disagree.

“Although statutory factors provide guidance, there is no formulaic approach for determining an equitable apportionment of marital property.” Lewis, 392 S.C. at 391, 709 S.E.2d at 655. “Upon dissolution of the marriage, marital property should be divided and distributed in a manner [that] fairly reflects each spouse's contribution to its acquisition, regardless of who holds legal title.” Id. The ultimate goal of apportionment is to divide the marital estate, as a whole, in a manner that fairly reflects each spouse's contribution to the economic partnership and also the effect on each of the parties of ending that partnership. See Johnson, 296 S.C. at 298, 372 S.E.2d at 112.

In making an equitable apportionment of marital property, the family court must give weight in such proportion as it finds appropriate to all of the following factors:

(1) the duration of the marriage along with the ages of the parties at the time of the marriage and at the time of the divorce; (2) marital misconduct or fault of either or both parties, if the misconduct affects or has affected the economic circumstances of the parties or contributed to the breakup of the marriage; (3) the value of the marital property and the contribution of each spouse to the acquisition, preservation, depreciation, or appreciation in...