Scott v. Scott

805 S.W.2d 835, 1991 WL 36651
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 7, 1991
Docket10-89-258-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 805 S.W.2d 835 (Scott v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scott v. Scott, 805 S.W.2d 835, 1991 WL 36651 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

THOMAS, Chief Justice.

Herbert Scott attacks the property division in the judgment divorcing him from Betty Scott. His principal complaint is that the jury mischaracterized certain assets as Betty’s separate estate. Thus, he argues that the court erred when it relied on the findings in making the property division. Although the portion of the judgment granting the divorce will be affirmed, the property division will be severed and reversed and that portion of the cause remanded for further proceedings.

Herbert and Betty married on January 27, 1983. On the day before their marriage, they executed a premarital agreement containing these provisions:

[A]ll income or revenue from either party’s separate property shall be deemed to be community property and shall be used to finance the ordinary and customary living expenses incurred by the parties during the marriage....
[I]f the income or revenue from the parties’ separate property exceeds the amount necessary to meet the parties’ ordinary and reasonable necessary living expenses ..., then, and in that event, either party may deposit such excess income and revenue to the corpus of their separate property and such funds shall then become the separate property of the spouse whose separate property produced such income or revenue....

When they married, Betty's separate estate was worth in excess of $1,000,000, consisting primarily of $400,000 in certificates of deposit, $35,000 savings, oil royalties, two Cadillacs, a 1982 GM van, a one-half interest in a Cessna 172 airplane, a residence located on ninety-eight acres in Henryetta, Oklahoma, household furnishings, jewelry, and other unspecified personal and real property. Herbert’s separate property then consisted, at most, of $12,000 cash, a 1981 Cadillac, and unspecified personal effects.

Betty’s accountant estimated the value of her separate property at the time of the trial at $893,000. He based this estimate on the assumption that she would receive all of the marital estate in the property division. Her separate estate still consisted primarily of the Oklahoma real estate, $400,000 in certificates of deposit, three promissory notes, oil royalties, jewelry, household furnishings, and personal effects. Herbert conceded that these “Oklahoma assets” were Betty’s separate property, and made no claim against them.

*837 He did, however, assert a community interest in the following assets: $78,607 held in escrow from the sale of the home they purchased in 1986 when they moved to Waco; household furnishings; a 1986 Cadillac being driven by Betty; and a Cessna 182 airplane. The home, Cadillac and plane were all owned in both of their names. Herbert claimed as separate property approximately $54,000 in his account at NCNB-Waco, 1 which he alleged was the balance of a $100,000 certificate of deposit Betty gave him in 1987. He also asserted that a Chevrolet Silverado pickup, a four-wheel dirt bike, and an investment in Oil Tex belonged to his separate estate.

The jury found that: (1) $19,500 of the $78,607 held in escrow belonged to the community and that the balance belonged to Betty’s separate estate; (2) the community owned only $8,750 of the Cessna 182’s $35,-000 value and that the balance was Betty’s separate property; and (8) the 1986 Cadillac was Betty’s separate asset. With respect to Herbert’s account at NCNB, the jury found that Betty did not give him the $100,000 certificate of deposit and that the $54,000 in his account were her separate funds.

Moreover, the jury found that: (1) $4,000 in First Federal Savings-Waco and $9 in American Bank-Waco belonged to the community; and (2) the Silverado pickup, the dirt bike, and the investment in Oil Tex were Herbert’s separate property. Betty does not challenge these findings on appeal.

Based on the verdict, the court awarded Herbert as his separate property the pickup, the dirt bike, and the investment in Oil Tex. It also awarded him $16,129.50 in cash, which was one-half of the value of the community estate found by the jury. All property not specifically given to Herbert, including the $78,607 remaining in escrow from the sale of the home, the $54,000 in Herbert’s account at NCNB, the 1986 Cadillac, and the Cessna 182, was awarded to Betty as her separate estate. Herbert questions the evidentiary support for findings that the money in escrow, the plane, the funds in his NCNB account, and the Cadillac were Betty’s separate property. He contends that she failed to overcome the presumption that these assets belonged to the community. See Tex.Fam. Code Ann. § 5.02 (Vernon Supp.1991). Furthermore, he claims that he overcame the community presumption and established that the money in the NCNB account was his separate property. See id.

PRESUMPTION

Property possessed by either spouse during or upon the dissolution of a marriage is presumed to belong to the community. Id.; Cockerham v. Cockerham, 527 S.W.2d 162, 167 (Tex.1975). This presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence tracing the property and its mutations back to a spouse’s separate estate. Id. The question is whether clear and convincing evidence overcame the presumption that the money held in escrow, the plane, and the Cadillac belonged to the community.

FUNDS IN ESCROW

The parties purchased their home in Waco for $79,000 cash. Betty testified that $10,000 of the purchase price came from the sale of her separate real estate in Oklahoma, but admitted that the balance of $69,000 was from “interest income.” She argues on appeal that the $69,000 were also her separate funds under the premarital agreement because the money had been “saved” from excess interest income that had not been used for ordinary living expenses.

The premarital agreement provided that either party “may deposit ... excess income and revenue to the corpus of their separate property and such funds shall then become the separate property of the spouse whose separate property produced *838 such income or revenue.” (Emphasis added). Clearly, the parties intended any “excess” interest income to retain its community character until it was deposited to the corpus of a party’s separate property. Merely “saving” excess interest income would not change its character from community to separate property under the premarital agreement. Tracing purchase money derived from excess interest income to Betty’s separate estate would necessarily require proof by clear and convincing evidence that the excess had been deposited to the corpus of her separate assets. She failed to do this on any of the assets in controversy. Thus, her contention that the premarital agreement made any “saved” excess interest income her separate funds is rejected because of the plain intent of the parties.

Proceeds from the sale of separate real estate retain their separate character. Estrada v. Reed,

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Bluebook (online)
805 S.W.2d 835, 1991 WL 36651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-v-scott-texapp-1991.