Domestic Relations – Equitable Distribution – Marital Residence – Rental Value — Classification – Vehicles & Equipment

McCollum v. McCollum (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-16-0502, 6 pp.) (Sanford L. Steelman Jr., J.) (Appealed from Rockingham County District Court. (Stanley L. Allen, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Click here for the full-text opinion.

Holding: Following the parties’ separation, the defendant-husband maintained most of the marital debts. After recognizing the husband’s payments, the trial court granted the plaintiff-wife a set-off against these payments based on the rental value of the marital residence because the husband remained there after the separation; the trial court also noted that the husband received the benefit of tax deductions for interest paid on the mortgage and for property tax payments.

The use of the marital residence may be considered by the trial court in determining equitable distribution. The trial court did not err in considering rental value, mortgage payments, insurance payments, and tax deductions.

We affirm the equitable distribution order.

Where the wife testified that certain vehicles and a trailer were not assets of the parties’ business and that they were titled to the husband individually and not to the business, this was competent evidence to support the trial court’s designation of these items as marital property and not as assets of the business.