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2005 WI App 63, 280 Wis. 2d 681, 696 N.W.2d 170 (WI Ct. App., 2005)
Summary
Apartment building is separate asset, but the related mortgage debt is subject to division. To resolve the divisible status of property, courts must make two distinct inquiries: Tracing and donative intent. “Tracing” is the job of determining the value and source of an asset or part of an asset. “Donative intent” is a question of the owning party’s subjective intent to make a gift. In this case, using the gifted building as collateral for the loan does not exclude the loan. The marriage acquired an asset (cash) and debt of equal value. The loan was a zero-sum game.
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