## Facts

- Mary Weitzel Gibbons and Felton Lewis Gibbons married in 1952 and divorced in 1978.
- During the marriage, Felton received substantial assets by gift and inheritance; Mary received comparatively less.
- The family lived at a high standard of living, and many expenses were paid from income generated by Felton’s gift/inheritance assets.
- The trial court treated both jointly acquired property and the spouses’ gift/inheritance assets as subject to equitable distribution and ordered an equal division; the Appellate Division affirmed.
- While the matter was pending on further appeal, the Legislature amended N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 to exclude from equitable distribution property acquired during the marriage by gift, devise, or bequest, except interspousal gifts.

## Issues

1. Whether the 1980 amendment to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 excluding most gifts, devises, and bequests from equitable distribution applies to a divorce case that was litigated and decided in the Appellate Division before the amendment’s effective date but remained pending on appeal.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the Appellate Division.
- The court held the 1980 amendment should receive limited retroactive application to cases still pending and non-final on direct review.
- Under the amended statute, third-party gifts, devises, and bequests acquired during the marriage (other than interspousal gifts) are excluded from equitable distribution in this case.
- The matter was remanded to the trial court to recalculate equitable distribution consistent with the amended statute.

## Legal Principles

- Statutes are generally presumed prospective unless legislative intent, the statute’s curative/remedial character, or the parties’ expectations justify retroactive application.
- A substantive change in domestic-relations property distribution law may be applied with limited retroactivity to pending, non-final cases when it serves the legislative policy and does not cause manifest injustice.
- N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23, as amended, excludes from equitable distribution property acquired during the marriage by gift, devise, or bequest, except interspousal gifts.

## Conclusion

The court applied the amended equitable distribution statute to a non-final divorce appeal, excluding third-party gifts and inheritances from distribution and remanding for a new allocation of marital property under the amended rule.


Gibbons v. Gibbons, 86 N.J. 515, 432 A.2d 80 (N.J. 1981)