Marriage of Vinci CA3

BACKGROUND

Husband and wife were married for approximately 10 years and separated in June 2019. They did not have any children. The trial court entered a judgment dissolving their marriage in March 2020. The trial court later held a trial to address “the characterization of the parties’ residential and business properties, vehicles, personal loans and other assets and debts.” Evidence at the trial, which was not transcribed by a court reporter, demonstrated that the parties lived in a residential property that husband had inherited from his mother in 2005. During the marriage, husband decided to buy a small commercial property using equity from the residential property. The parties jointly signed a loan to obtain the equity, which was then used to purchase the commercial property and to pay wife for repairs she had made to the residential property. The remainder of the proceeds were disbursed to husband’s bank account. As part of the transaction, husband signed a deed conveying an interest in the residential property to wife. The parties disputed whether husband understood that this would affect his ownership interest in the property and the extent to which husband relied on…