Love v. Olson

645 P.2d 861, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 724
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 15, 1982
Docket80CA0378
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 645 P.2d 861 (Love v. Olson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Love v. Olson, 645 P.2d 861, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 724 (Colo. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

ENOCH, Chief Judge.

Defendant, Mary Olson, wife of defendant Don Olson, appeals the trial court’s judgment declaring that a conveyance to her was fraudulent, and subjecting her property to execution by plaintiff, the judgment creditor. We affirm.

The trial court found that defendant, Don Olson (debtor), executed a $25,000 unsecured note payable to C. L. Love (creditor) and due on November 25, 1973. At the time the note was due, debtor had interests in two properties: the “Olson Farm,” which he owned individually and had inherited from his parents, and other property which he owned in joint tenancy with his wife and which was subject to a deed of trust securing two promissory notes. This deed of trust was foreclosed in 1976.

On January 12, 1974, debtor borrowed $150,000 from another party, and executed a note and deed of trust covering the “Olson Farm” for that amount. Ninety-thousand dollars of the $150,000 received by debtor was deposited in a savings account owned jointly by debtor and his wife. The wife withdrew $80,000 from this account, purchased a new family home in which they both lived, and took title in her name alone. The use of the remaining $60,000 for the payment of other debts of the husband is not an issue. In October of 1974, the deed of trust was foreclosed on the “Olson Farm,” and the farm was sold for $159,873. On May 20, 1975, creditor Love commenced this action to obtain judgment on his note and to set aside the transfer to the wife.

The trial court found that deposit of the $90,000 to the joint bank account, together with wife’s subsequent withdrawal of the money, constituted a conveyance with intent to hinder creditors under § 38-10-117, C.R.S.1973, and declared that wife’s new residence was subject to execution by the creditor to enforce the claim against debtor.

I. THE CONVEYANCE ISSUE

A.

Wife first contends that there was no conveyance because the alleged gift from debtor was never consummated. Wife reasons that debtor, by placing the money in a joint bank account, retained control, and that she had no power to complete the gift by withdrawing the money on her own and without any further action by the debtor. We disagree.

Whether the requirements of a gift have been met, i.e., donative intent coupled with an act which consummates the gift, is a question of fact, and the trial court’s determination, if supported by the *863 record, as it is in this case, is binding on review. Estate of Ramsey v. State Department of Revenue, 42 Colo.App. 163, 591 P.2d 591 (1979). A gift is complete and irrevocable when the donor loses all control over the subject matter of the gift. Estate of Barnhart v. Burkhardt, 38 Colo.App. 544, 563 P.2d 972 (1977), aff’d, 194 Colo. 505, 574 P.2d 500 (1978).

Here, the debtor voluntarily transferred the money to the wife by putting the funds at her disposal with intent that she should withdraw the money later. The record shows that debtor agreed with the wife that she should withdraw the money and that he helped her select a new home and negotiate for its purchase. The gift was perfected when the wife withdrew the money and converted it to real property in her own name. Estate of Barnhart v. Burkhardt, supra. See Johnson v. Hilliard, 113 Colo. 548, 160 P.2d 386 (1945). Under these circumstances, the gift is not defeated by the fact that it was wife, and not debtor himself, who actually authorized withdrawal of the funds. See In Re Estate of Barnhart v. Burkhardt, supra.

Albers v. Young, 119 Colo. 37, 199 P.2d 890 (1948), relied upon by wife, is not in point. There, the donor did not agree with the donee that the money should be withdrawn from the joint account, nor that it should be used to purchase other assets in the donee’s name. More importantly, the money was never withdrawn by the donee, and the donor did not relinquish control over the money prior to his death.

B.

Wife also contends that the transfer to her should have been characterized as repayment of a loan. We disagree.

Although husband and wife may stand in the relationship of debtor and creditor, a bona fide loan transaction must be established. Knapp v. Day, 4 Colo.App. 21, 34 P. 1008 (1893). Here, no such relationship was established. The only evidence to support wife’s loan theory was testimony that she had brought $50,000 into the marriage and placed it at the disposal of the debtor. There was no note executed, no interest agreed to or paid, and no other testimony that the parties intended this contribution to be repaid. Under these circumstances, the trial court did not err in characterizing the transaction as a gift rather than a loan.

C.

Finally, wife contends that the money was not given to her because she merely withdrew what belonged to her. In effect, wife argues that she liquidated her inchoate interest in marital property by withdrawing her share of the loan proceeds. We find no merit in this argument.

A wife has an interest in property inherited by the husband in the sense that, upon dissolution, the appreciation, if any, in the property’s value may be treated as marital property subject to division. Santilli v. Santilli, 169 Colo. 49, 453 P.2d 606 (1969). However, this interest vests only upon the occurrence of a statutorily enacted contingency such as divorce, separation, inability to support, homestead, or death. In Re Questions Submitted by United States District Court, 184 Colo. 1, 517 P.2d 1331 (1974). Since none of these contingencies occurred, wife was not entitled to distribution of her share of marital property, and the conveyance by the debtor to her constituted a gift.

II. THE INSOLVENCY AND FRAUD ISSUE

Wife contends that, even if it is assumed arguendo there was a conveyance, the evidence failed to establish debtor was insolvent at the time of the conveyance. Creditor’s response is that, where intent to defraud is proven, it is unnecessary under § 38-10-117, C.R.S.1973, to establish the debtor’s insolvency. It is not necessary for us to determine which view is correct because the record supports both the trial court’s findings that the debtor was insolvent at the time of the conveyance, and that debtor actually intended to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors.

Wife argues that the trial court applied an erroneous test when it determined debt- or was insolvent.

*864 According to wife, the trial court should have applied the test incorporated in the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act,

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Bluebook (online)
645 P.2d 861, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/love-v-olson-coloctapp-1982.