Marriage of Inboden

Carolyn Inboden (plaintiff) and Lowell Inboden (defendant) married in 2005. Shortly before the marriage, Carolyn purchased an undeveloped lot in Yuma, Arizona (the Yuma property) using $90,000 of her separate funds. The Yuma property was ultimately deeded to Carolyn and Lowell as joint tenants with right of survivorship. After the marriage, Carolyn and Lowell, with limited assistance from professionals, developed and built a house on that lot using their own labor. Carolyn contributed an additional $67,000 of separate property toward the improvements, and Lowell contributed $46,500 of his separate funds. The remaining funds used were acquired via a loan placed on the Yuma property. Shortly after the house was completed, Lowell abandoned Carolyn. Carolyn filed for divorce in 2007. At trial, it was undisputed that the separate-property contributions from both Carolyn and Lowell were intended as interspousal gifts. The value of the Yuma property, as developed, was assessed at $310,000. After deducting the outstanding loan, the available equity was approximately $216,000. After a trial, the family court divided the Yuma property unequally in order to reimburse both Carolyn and Lowell for their separate-property contributions. Specifically, Carolyn was reimbursed $157,000, Lowell was reimbursed $46,500, and the remaining equity was divided pro rata in proportion to their respective separate-property contributions. Lowell appealed, arguing that the family court abused its discretion by dividing the Yuma property unequally based solely on Carolyn’s and Lowell’s respective separate-property contributions. Lowell argued that the family court should have considered other equitable-distribution factors and divided the Yuma property equally.