INHERITED PROPERTY WHICH HAD BEEN COMMINGLED WITH MARITAL PROPERTY SHOULD HAVE BEEN TREATED AS MARITAL PROPERTY AND DIVIDED EQUALLY (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined in this divorce action that the inherited property which was commingled with marital should have been considered marital property and divided equally:

The proceeds from an inheritance are separate property (see Domestic Relations Law § 236[B][1][d][1]…). However, where separate property has been commingled with marital property, for example in a joint bank account, there is a presumption that the commingled funds constitute marital property … . This presumption may be overcome by evidence that the funds were deposited into the joint account as a matter of convenience, without the intention of creating a beneficial interest … .

Here, by depositing inherited funds into accounts titled jointly with the defendant, the plaintiff created the presumption that the funds were marital … . Moreover, the plaintiff failed to rebut the presumption that the funds were transmuted into marital property, as she failed to establish that the funds were deposited into the parties’ joint accounts only as a matter of convenience without the intention of creating a beneficial interest … . Candea v Candea, 2019 NY Slip Op 04349, Second Dept 6-5-10