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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA September 2005 Term

FILED December 1, 2005
No. 32727
released at 10:00 a.m.
RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA

ANNA JEAN DUNCAN STUCK, Petitioner Below, Appellee v. WILLIAM JACK STUCK, Respondent Below, Appellant

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County Honorable Tod J. Kaufman, Judge Civil Action No. 03-D-824 REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS

Submitted: November 2, 2005 Filed: December 1, 2005 Charles R. Webb, Esq. Giatras & Webb Charleston, West Virginia Attorney for Appellant Gordon Billheimer, Esq. Billheimer Law Firm, PLLC Montgomery, West Virginia Attorney for Appellee

The Opinion of the Court was delivered PER CURIAM. JUSTICES DAVIS and STARCHER dissent and reserve the right to file dissenting opinions.

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

1.

"Where, during the course of the marriage, one spouse transfers title to

his or her separate property into the joint names of both spouses, a presumption that the transferring spouse intended to make a gift of the property to the marital estate is consistent with the principles underlying our equitable distribution statute." Syllabus Point 4, Whiting v. Whiting, 183 W.Va. 451, 396 S.E.2d 413 (1990). 2. "Equitable distribution . . . is a three-step process. The first step is to

classify the parties' property as marital or nonmarital. The second step is to value the marital assets. The third step is to divide the marital estate between the parties in accordance with the principles contained in [former] W.Va.Code, 48-2-32 [now W.Va. Code

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