Lerch v. Lerch

Once the husband executed and recorded a gift deed transferring ownership in the home he purchased prior to the marriage to both parties as "tenants in common," the wife acquired a one-half interest in the home that was subject to equitable distribution during the parties' divorce action.

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Donald and Barbara Lerch were married in 1994, and divorced in 2004. The Superior Court of Chatham County awarded the marital home to Husband, and, in accordance with the couple’s prenuptial agreement, awarded Wife $100,000. Wife appeals, contending that the trial court erred in its decision to award the home to Husband. Because the trial court failed to properly treat the entire home as marital property, we reverse and remand to the trial court for a new equitable division of property. During the marriage, the couple lived in a home on Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia that Husband had purchased prior to the marriage. In 1999, Husband executed and recorded a gift deed transferring ownership in the home property to both parties as “tenants in common” with right of survivorship. The trial court determined that as a result of the gift, half of the home qualified as marital property and the other half remained the Husband’s separate property. The court then awarded the entire home to Husband, giving the portion of the home qualifying as marital property to Husband as his portion of the equitable division of marital property.

1. Normally, a gift to one spouse becomes the separate property of the recipient spouse.1 When a gift is given to the marital couple, however, the property will become marital property absent evidence of a contrary intent by the donor.2 In this case, the Husband deeded the home to both his wife and himself, to be held as “tenants in common” with right of survivorship. In so doing, Husband manifested an intent to transform his own separate property into marital property.3 Because both Husband and Wife then owned an undivided one-half interest in the property,4 the entire home should have been treated as marital property. Accordingly, the trial court’s decision to treat only one-half of the home as marital property must be reversed.

Lerch v. Lerch

Once the husband executed and recorded a gift deed transferring ownership in the home he purchased prior to the marriage to both parties as "tenants in common," the wife acquired a one-half interest in the home that was subject to equitable distribution during the parties' divorce action.

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