Rossiter v. Rossite

666 P.2d 617 (1983)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H married W on December 31, 1973, and then they moved to Hawaii in March 1974. Shortly thereafter they purchased real property on Kauai. The $8,000 down payment and the money to buy building materials had been provided by W out of the $3,000 she brought into the marriage and a $5,500 gift to W from her mother. A further gift of $5,000 from W’s mother to W in 1976 was used to buy building materials to make a partial prepayment on the property and to establish an auto repair shop. W’s mother held title to the land and improvements used in the garage business, and the parties paid her monthly rent. In 1979, W’s mother and grandfather each gave W $3,000 which she used to buy building materials, appliances, and furniture for the house and well as paying for some of the business expenses of the garage. When H had to get cataract surgery, he was unable to work for 4 months, and W’s mother gave W $3,300 and $1,800 which W used for H’s trip, house payments and living expenses. H brought into the marriage a sailboat, which he had bought in 1966 for $3,995, and some car repair tools. With the help of his two sons by a previous marriage and some friends, H cleared the land and constructed a house thereon, in which the parties resided until their separation in 1981. W filed for divorce on January 27, 1981. During the hearings, H alleged an oral antenuptial agreement to the effect that W would never force the sale of a marital residence. The family court entered its decree that ordered the residence sold and the proceeds of the sale were to be distributed to the parties. H appealed; it was error for the lower court not to enforce the oral agreement not to force a sale of their marital residence.