Background
This involved the marriage of 24 years before the wife filed for divorce on 4 December 2020. The parties disagree whether the wife’s CDP Account No ending 5068, valued at $3,007,166.98, is part of the matrimonial assets. The wife wants that account to be excluded because it was created in her sole name in 1992 before the parties were married. In addition, she mentioned that the shares in the CDP account were either (i) purchased using inheritance monies from her late father, who passed away in 1999; or (ii) transferred directly from her late father’s estate. The wife has also provided one CDP statement dated July 2021 and an incomplete transaction history of selected shares from 2005 to 2021 to support her claims.
However, the husband claimed that there is no evidence to prove that the assets in the CDP account were derived solely from inheritance. He also mentioned that it is unlikely that the inheritance of $235,679.92 could have grown to $3,007,166.98 over 23 years. The husband believes that the wife continued to invest her income into the CDP account during their marriage. Therefore, the CDP account contains co-mingled funds and should be included in the matrimonial assets.
Findings
According to Section 112(10) of the Women’s Charter, a “matrimonial asset” does not include any asset that has been acquired by one party by gift or inheritance unless it is a matrimonial home, or it has been substantially improved by the other party during the marriage.
The party who asserts that an asset is not a matrimonial asset bears the burden of proving it. In this case, there is no evidence of any direct transfers from her late father’s estate to the CDP account, nor evidence suggesting that inheritance monies funded her subsequent purchases.
Therefore, the court believes the account should be included in the matrimonial pool.
Learning Point
Often than not, most couples, during the happy days of their marriage, may share their assets, including inheritance, with their other half. But they may want to resile their assets to the original position when the marriage has broken down.
Therefore, it is encouraged to keep your inheritance and other sources of income, such as salary, rental income, etc., in their original position, keeping in mind that your inheritance or gift may form part of your matrimonial assets if it has been substantially improved during the marriage.
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You are encouraged to seek legal or professional advice for any matters relating to divorce.
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