West Virginia court overturns $31,054 home value payout but protects wife's mortgage share

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court decision that ordered a man to pay his former wife $31,054 for the increase in market value of a home he bought before their marriage. The decision, in the case of Shawn H. v.

Elise H., makes clear that any increase in the market value of a property bought by one spouse before marriage remains that person's separate property. The other spouse can only claim a share of that increase if they prove their own work directly helped raise the property's value. Although the Supreme Court overturned the payment linked to the home's overall increase in market value, it confirmed that the former wife is still entitled to a fair share of the financial value gained through mortgage principal payments made during the marriage.

The ruling explains how West Virginia courts must separate property owned before marriage from financial contributions made by both spouses during marriage when dividing assets in a divorce.Background of the premarital home disputeThe case involved a house that Shawn H. bought before marrying Elise H.