In re Marriage of Grinius

Facts

Victor and Joyce Grinius were married on the same day they executed an antenuptial agreement listing their respective separate assets and providing that all property acquired during the first six years of marriage would remain separate property. The agreement contained a sunset provision stating it would lapse after six years, at which point all community property rights would be retroactively reinstated to the date of marriage. Shortly after marriage, Victor resigned his employment and the couple opened a restaurant together. They purchased restaurant property for sixty thousand dollars using a twenty thousand dollar down payment from an eighty thousand dollar Small Business Administration loan and a forty thousand dollar loan from Home Federal Savings and Loan. The SBA loan was secured by both Victor’s separate property and community assets, and required nine separate conditions including hypothecation of Victor’s separate property stock and real estate, as well as community assets such as restaurant equipment and insurance policies. Both spouses negotiated the purchase, but Victor placed title in his name alone without Joyce’s knowledge. During the marriage, both worked in the restaurant, and all personal and restaurant expenses were paid from a joint checking account funded by community earnings, though Victor occasionally deposited separate property funds to prevent overdrafts. Monthly loan payments were made from the joint account, and Victor also made substantial separate property contributions to pay down the loans totaling over one hundred thousand dollars.