In an unpublished opinion by the Michigan Court of Appeals (Docket # 369276) the Plaintiff
Sharease Beaudet, appealed the finding of the trial court that real estate property deeded to the Parties as tenants by the entirety was separate property. The trial court found that the real estate was Defendant’s separate property because his mother intended for the property to be Defendant’s inheritance. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s ruling and remanded back to the trial court to determine an equitable division of the asset.
In making their decision the Court of Appeals relied upon the fact that the property was deeded (via a quitclaim) to both Plaintiff and Defendant as tenants by the entirety What was interesting in the ruling was the apparent lack of development of the concept that the manner in which a married couple holds property does not necessarily mean property is separate or marital.
The Court of Appeals also found that the question of how much Plaintiff and Defendant contributed to maintain the property may be relevant to the trial court’s valuation of the asset and its ultimate division but that it had no bearing on whether the property was marital.