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Property Down Payment Made With Separate Property
© 2003 National Legal Research Group, Inc.
FLORIDA: Zangari v. Cunningham, 839 So. 2d 918 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003).
The joint title gift presumption is not rebutted merely by evidence that one spouse made a separate property down payment on jointly titled property.
Upon the parties' divorce, the husband was awarded a special equity in the marital home when the marital assets were distributed. The property had been held by the husband and wife as tenants by the entirety. On appeal, that portion of the divorce decree was reversed.
Under Florida law, there is a presumption that entireties property is marital property regardless of who paid for it. Fla. Stat. Ann. 61.075(5)(a)(5). In order to overcome the statutory presumption, the party seeking a special equity has the burden of proving that a gift was not intended. Because the parties' marital home was purchased after the marriage and was jointly titled, it enjoyed the presumption of marital property. The trial court awarded the husband a special equity interest based upon evidence that he had made the down payment on the marital home with nonmarital assets. Standing alone, however, that evidence was insufficient to prove that the husband did not intend to make a gift. Hence, the trial court erred in granting a special equity interest to the husband.
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