Nature of the Case
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Facts
H and W were married on 24 May 1975, separated on 7 August 1995, and divorced on 24 September 1996. No children were born of the marriage. The trial court awarded an equal distribution of the marital property and designated certain items to be separate property not subject to distribution. H filed a motion to amend the findings, which was denied by the trial court on 16 April 1997. The evidence showed that in 1986, after receiving an inheritance from her father of approximately $163,000.00, W opened an investment account with Wheat First Securities. She deposited about $158,000.00 of her inheritance, as well as a $10,000.00 gift from her Aunt into the investment account. On the advice of her broker, W had the investment account listed in the joint names of the parties, with a right of survivorship. From November 1986 until July 1989, the parties deposited a total of $4,550.00 of marital funds into this investment account and withdrew $38,658.00 from the investment account for marital purposes. The account was transferred to Interstate Johnson Lane when the parties' investment broker changed firms. At the time of the transfer, the investment account was valued at $138,161.00, $30,000.00 less than the amount of the initial deposit. When the account was transferred to Shearson Lehman, it was valued at $119,714.00. Also, during this time Aunt Mabel was in poor health and was attempting to deplete her estate by distributing portions to her intended beneficiaries in order to avoid estate tax consequences. Therefore, Aunt Mabel made gifts to H and W in December 1992 and January 1993 for $10,000.00 each, for a total of $40,000.00. Along with each gift, Aunt Mabel included a note describing the purpose of her gifts. The 28 December 1992 note to H read, in pertinent part, as follows: Dear Dick: I have enclosed a check for $10,000 which is part of the inheritance I am leaving Mabel. Since the law allows only $10,000 per family member, I am sending this gift for her in your name to remove assets from my estate that would otherwise be taxed at a very high rate if left in the estate. Please deposit upon receipt. Of the $40,000 in gifts $24,990.00 was deposited into the investment account at Shearson Lehman, and $9,970.00 was used to purchase a 1993 Volvo 850 automobile for W. The investment account increased in value by approximately $44,000.00 due to dividends, share reinvestment gains and market value gains. In May 1994, the Shearson Lehman investment account was valued at $181,452.00. It was transferred to Scott & Stringfellow. While the investment account was at Scott & Stringfellow, defendant received an inheritance from Aunt Mabel's estate totaling $62,841.00, of which she deposited $56,851.00 into the investment account. The investment account remained there until the parties' separation in August 1995. The trial court found that the $40,000.00 in gifts from Aunt Mabel were intended to be gifts to W in the total amount of $40,000.00, and not gifts to H. Further, the trial court determined that other than $4,550.00 of marital funds deposited in the investment account when it was with Wheat First Security, all of which was withdrawn and spent for marital purposes, no other marital property or earnings of the parties was ever deposited to or invested in the investment account. The trial court ruled the investment account to be the separate property of W and not subject to distribution. The trial court awarded H $158,677.28 of the marital estate and awarded defendant $118,901.29 of the marital estate. In addition, the trial court ordered plaintiff to pay defendant a distributive award of $19,888.00 in order to equalize the distribution. H appealed.
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