Non-Marital Property
Gift
The circuit court’s conclusion that the bracelet given to petitioner by respondent’s mother, who carried insurance on it, belonged to the petitioner was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence; therefore, bracelet was not included in marital property. In re Simmons
The trial court erred in awarding gold cross to petitioner wife as her separate non-marital property where the evidence established that it was given to husband by his uncle many years prior to the marriage and there was no affirmative proof of an intention to make a gift to the wife. In re Uluhogian
Improvement
The stores owned by a husband prior to the marriage remained non-marital despite their absorption of some marital resources because it was permissible for one spouse to improve the other spouse’s non-marital property without making that property marital. In re Kennedy
Individual Retirement Account
Where an Individual Retirement Account was treated as the exclusive property of husband since he used the account as an adjustment to income on his separate tax return, this was property acquired solely by husband during the marriage and fell within the exclusion of the prenuptial agreement. In re Burgess
Investment
The interest earned during the marriage on one spouse’s investment account was her non-marital property, as an increase in the value of property acquired before marriage remained non-marital property. In re Deem
Legislative Intent
The intent of this section as a whole was designed to eliminate disparity between the marriage partners; however, the exceptions (1) through (6) of subsection 9a) of this section manifest the legislative purpose to preserve the character of non-marital property in those situations where the actions of the parties have not created ambiguity. In re Smith
Test
Where property was acquired before marriage, title is a relevant indicator to determine at the time of dissolution whether the property has remained non-marital. In re Drennan
See Also: Divorce Lawyers New York