Nature of the Case
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Facts
H and W were married in a civil ceremony in December 1984. They have lived together since 1976 and eventually separated in 1992. H filed for divorce in 1992. The trial court held the equitable distribution hearing in 1996. The big issue was a tort settlement that H got from a personal injury action in 1983. The tort claim was settled, and H got $600 per month in payments and a lump sum of $70,000 on April 4, 2004. H argued that this property was not marital property because they were not married. W claimed that they had a common law marriage as early as 1978. W testified that they maintained joint checking accounts and that she began to use H's last name and had changed her Social Security card, driver's license, and credit cards to her new identity. The deed to their home recited them as husband and wife with tenants by entirety. They filed federal income taxes as a married couple. However, on the birth of her daughter, she put that she was not married on the birth certificate. The trial court declared the tort settlement not to be marital property in that W failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that W and H had a reputation of marriage. W had told her immediate family that W and H were not married. The Superior court reversed. This appeal resulted.
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