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A Montana couple who put a home in the wife’s name before marrying in 2023 have seen the state Supreme Court uphold a decision awarding the property to the husband after their split. The husband’s contribution of nearly $955,000 played an important part in the decision. The $955,000 the husband put into the home was central to the court’s decision.
The court found that the husband had paid almost $955,000 for the purchase costs and improvements, and therefore had a strong case for treating the home as his, even though the title was in his wife’s name.
The court held that the amount of money he put into the home was a clear indication that he intended it to be his, regardless of whether the title said otherwise. The case illustrates that judges don’t just look at whose name is on a deed when deciding who gets what in a divorce. In this instance, the Montana Supreme Court concluded that the husband’s financial contributions and the circumstances surrounding the purchase justified awarding him the home. Read more about it here, as per report on Justia U.S. Law: The trial court ruled for the husband and awarded him the property. The wife appealed, but the Montana Supreme Court upheld the decision, finding that the evidence supported the lower court’s ruling. Under Montana law, courts are allowed to look beyond the title when dividing property in a divorce. The court looked at the whole picture, including who paid for the house and who contributed to its maintenance and improvement. The court also looked at the timing of the purchase and what the couple’s plans were at the time. Montana’s Supreme Court has stated that in divorce cases, the courts will look beyond formal titles to determine property ownership. This approach can protect people who have invested heavily in a home but do not hold the deed. Without that level of contribution, the outcome might have been different, but the evidence made a strong case that the property was meant to be his.
Since the home was bought before the marriage and the husband had funded most of it, the court saw little reason to treat it as marital property subject to equal division.
