## Facts

- Willard Hamilton and Suzanne Hamilton married and later divorced.
- After the divorce, the parties litigated ownership of several movable items in a property partition proceeding.
- The disputed items were received before the marriage at a bridal shower hosted for Suzanne.
- Shower guests brought household-type gifts, including dinner plates and other dishware, glasses (including some monogrammed glasses), silver trays, a candle holder, a coffee percolator, towels, and similar items.
- The guests who brought the gifts did not state whether the gifts were intended for Suzanne alone or for Suzanne and Willard as a couple.
- Suzanne argued the items were her separate property because they were manual donations delivered to her before the marriage.
- Willard argued the items were intended for the couple’s joint household use and thus belonged to both parties.
- The trial court found the items were meant for the joint use of Willard and Suzanne and held they were owned by the parties in common.
- Suzanne appealed the classification.

## Issues

1. Whether household goods given at a pre-marital bridal shower for the bride are the bride’s separate property or are jointly owned when the donors’ intent as to the donee(s) is not shown.
2. Whether, under Louisiana law governing manual donations, donor intent controls the identity of the donee(s) and therefore the ownership classification of the gift.
3. Whether the trier of fact may infer donor intent from the type of items given and the circumstances of the gift when there is no direct evidence of intent.

## Decision

- The Louisiana First Circuit affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
- The court held that the controlling fact was the donors’ intent as to who the donee(s) were.
- Because no evidence established that the donors intended to give the items to Suzanne alone, the trial court did not err in treating the gifts as intended for the couple’s joint use and therefore owned in common.

## Legal Principles

- Under Louisiana Civil Code art. 1539, a manual donation of a corporeal movable is valid without special formality when there is donor intent to give and delivery to the donee.
- The donor’s intent determines the identity of the donee or donees; that determination controls whether a purported gift belongs to one spouse alone or to both spouses.
- A spouse claiming an asset is separate property bears the burden of proving facts that support separate classification, including proof that a donation was made to that spouse alone when the donee identity is disputed.
- When direct proof of donor intent is absent, the court may consider the character of the items and the surrounding circumstances (such as household goods typically associated with setting up a marital home) in deciding whether the gift was meant for one spouse or for the couple.

## Conclusion

Hamilton v. Hamilton affirmed a trial court’s finding that pre-marital bridal-shower household gifts were owned by the former spouses in common, because ownership turned on donor intent and the record contained no evidence that the donors intended Suzanne to be the sole donee; given the household nature of the items and their expected joint use, the court accepted the inference that the gifts were intended for both spouses.


Hamilton v. Hamilton, 381 So. 2d 517 (1979)