## Facts

- Lawrence Anderson White (husband) and Jean Malcolm White (wife) married in 1951 and had two children.
- Early in the marriage, the wife left her nursing job to relocate with the husband and, by agreement, focused primarily on childrearing and homemaking for many years.
- The husband traveled extensively for work; the wife managed the home, raised the children, and accommodated multiple job-related moves that supported the husband’s career.
- The wife worked part-time at various times and began full-time employment in 1970 as an occupational health nurse with the Postal Service.
- The parties acquired marital assets including a residence, vehicles, bank accounts, and household property; the husband also held securities in his separate name.
- The husband left the marital home in 1980 and later sued for absolute divorce after one year’s separation.
- The wife asserted a counterclaim seeking equitable distribution of marital property under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20.

## Issues

1. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20, is equal division the required baseline for distributing marital property, and which party bears the burden to show that an unequal division is equitable?
2. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by ordering an equal division despite evidence of the wife’s substantial nonfinancial and financial contributions?

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed the order dividing marital property equally.
- The statute requires equal division unless the court determines, based on statutory factors, that an equal division would be inequitable.
- The party seeking an unequal distribution bears the burden of proving that equal division is not equitable.
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that equal division was equitable after considering relevant statutory factors.
- The trial court was not required to include a specific statement that the distribution ordered “is equitable,” so long as its findings and conclusions show proper application of the statute.

## Legal Principles

- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-20 mandates equal division of marital property unless the court determines an equal split would be inequitable after considering the statutory factors.
- The party requesting an unequal distribution must produce evidence and persuade the court that equal division would be inequitable.
- Nonfinancial contributions (homemaking, childrearing, and support of a spouse’s career) and financial contributions (earnings, payments toward marital obligations, pension interests) are relevant factors but do not require deviation from equal division.
- Appellate review of the distribution determination is for abuse of discretion; a distribution will be upheld absent a manifest abuse.

## Conclusion

The court held that North Carolina’s equitable distribution statute requires equal division of marital property unless proven inequitable, placed the burden for deviation on the party seeking an unequal split, and upheld the trial court’s equal distribution as a proper exercise of discretion.


White v. White, 324 S.E.2d 829 (N.C. 1985)