In Re Marriage of Carpenter

Jeanne Carpenter (wife) appeals from a marital dissolution judgment awarding Marvin W. Carpenter (husband) $415,000 as reimbursement for his separate property contribution in the purchase of a house. The trial court found that husband, in executing a premarital agreement, did not waive his right of reimbursement under Family Code section 2640, subdivision (b). Pursuant to the premarital agreement, the trial court awarded wife $2,083 a month spousal support for five years but declined to rule on whether support was modifiable. We affirm.

Facts

Husband is 68 years old. Wife is 59 years old. She owns a bookkeeping service and was husband’s bookkeeper before they married. On November 10, 1997, they entered into a premarital agreement providing that their separate property would remain separate property. The agreement stated that husband was buying a house in Arroyo Grande and that, upon marriage, the house would be “deemed to be their community property.”

Husband paid $415,000 for the house. Escrow closed on the parties’ wedding day, November 20, 1997. A few days after the wedding, husband executed a quitclaim deed transferring title to husband and wife as community…