Nack v. Edwards Nack
Court of Appeals of Virginia
2007 WL 2592902 (Va. Ct. App. 2007)
Steven Nack and Debra Edwards Nack's prenuptial agreement designated Nack's White City Electric (WCE) stock and his two cars as his separate property; after marrying, Nack deposited a nearly $300,000 WCE stock distribution into a joint checking account used for many other deposits and withdrawals, which in turn funded an investment account eventually becoming a Legg Mason account, while both cars remained titled solely in Nack's name even though Edwards Nack drove one as her primary vehicle, paying its maintenance from joint funds. The trial court, after Nack failed to provide account records tracing the funds, ruled the Legg Mason account and the cars were both marital property, and Nack appealed, arguing his separate WCE-stock funds should entitle him to a separate-property share of the Legg Mason account.
Whether, if separate property has been commingled with or contributed to marital property, resulting in the loss of its separate identity, the separate property becomes marital property in a divorce proceeding.