Cummings v. Anderson

614 P.2d 1283 (1980)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

H and W had plans to get married, and they both entered into a contract to purchase a single-family residence. They made the purchase and paid $2,500 for the assignment of the original purchaser's interest and agreed to assume payments of $150 per month. They took title to the property as tenants in common. The parties were married and lived in the home for just a few months. W then left the home and took substantially all the community personalty including the cash in a joint bank account. A default dissolution was issued in 1975. At the time of W's departure, $2,828.92 had been paid toward the purchase price of $16,350.16. No disposition of the property was even discussed, but H continued to live there and continued to make payments under the contract. At the time for this partition suit, the unpaid balance had been reduced to $8,763.95. H offered to buy W's interest in the contract for $1,000. W then sued for partition; demanding one-half interest in the equity and one-half the rental value of the premises during the time that H occupied it alone. The court found that W had left voluntarily and that W had made her own division of the property when she took the bulk of the community personalty and that she had abandoned her interest in the property. The court gave quiet title to H. W appealed. The Appeals court affirmed.