In Re Marriage of Gowdy

Sheila Cathane Pruitt Gowdy (wife) appeals from a judgment determining property rights, spousal support and attorney’s fees issues as between her and her former husband, Franklin Brockway Gowdy (husband). We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.-II

III. With Three Exceptions, There Is Substantial Evidence to Support the Judgment

A. Disposition of the Family Residence

In 1976, husband purchased a single family residence in Lafayette with funds from a family inheritance and a bank loan. At the time of the marriage three years later, husband and wife had lived together in the Lafayette house for years. After the marriage, payments on the bank loan were made by automatic deductions from a joint checking account from which wife paid most of the couple’s bills. Widely differing valuations regarding the house were asserted at trial by the parties and expert witnesses presented by them.

Discounting wife’s testimony that husband had promised all of his separate property not yet paid for would become community property, the court concluded that the house was the separate property of husband. Because the checking account was arguably under the control of wife, the court…