Proof Requirements Re: Whether An Account Is Entirely Marital Property Explained

The Fourth Department explained the proof requirements where the defendant claimed the entire amount in a deferred compensation account should not have been deemed marital property:

According to defendant, the court improperly presumed that all of the funds in that account accumulated during the marriage, and he therefore contends that we should remit the matter to Supreme Court to determine the “marital share” of that account as distinguished from his “separate property share.”  There is no merit to that contention. Pursuant to a statutory presumption, “all property, unless clearly separate, is deemed marital property,” and the burden rests with the titled spouse to rebut that presumption … . Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [1] [c]; [d]).  “The party seeking to rebut that presumption must adequately trace the source of the funds” …; otherwise, the court may properly treat the funds as marital property … .  Here, it does not appear from the record that defendant offered any evidence establishing the amounts he contributed to his deferred compensation account before or during the marriage. Thus, he failed to meet his burden of establishing that any of the funds in that account are separate property, and we therefore conclude that the court properly presumed that the entire account constitutes marital property subject to equitable distribution. Zufall v Zufall, 887, 4th Dept 9-27-13