Husband opened a Scottrade account in his own name during the marriage. He also opened a Chase checking account in his sole name.
He deposited both his employment earnings and nonmarital inheritance income into the Chase account. Then, he would transfer funds from the Chase account into the Scottrade account.
At trial, he proved the specific transfers through both testimony and bank statements. The trial court ruled that the Scottrade account was marital property. His earnings were marital property. He combined his nonmarital property with marital property. It all turned into marital property. He had transmuted his inheritance into a marital asset.
The appellate court reversed. The Scottrade account had both marital and nonmarital income. The monies were put together in this one account.
But, that does not necessarily prove that the nonmarital inheritance income became marital property. The husband’s inheritance income was easily identifiable in the Chase account. His marital income was completely spent each month after he paid his temporary support obligations. These were obligations ordered by the court during the divorce proceedings.
The funds remaining in the Chase account must be his nonmarital income. The transfers to the Scottrade account were made within days of the deposits into the Chase account. So, the Chase account merely acted as a way for the husband to deposit the money. And then transfer a portion of his inheritance to the Scottrade account. There was no transmutation.
In re the Marriage of Foster, 2014 IL App (1st) 123078.
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