Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that non-concurrent interests in a trust property do not preclude portioning the property under A.R.S. § 12-1220(A).

A husband and wife owned a piece of property, and during their marriage, they transferred their respective interests in the property into separate trusts.  The husband’s trust terminates ten years before the wife’s trust.  After their divorce, the husband filed an action to partition the property.  The trial court ordered the partition and the wife appealed.

The Court of Appeals held that under A.R.S. § 12-1220(A)—which provides when a partition is permissible—the husband and wife’s non-concurrent interests did not preclude partitioning the property.  Because the husband and wife, through their respective trusts, held “equal or greater estates” with one another, and because the partition did not prejudice the remainder beneficiaries of the respective trust, § 12-1220(A) did not preclude the partition.

Judge Gemmill authored the opinion; Judges Gould and Downie concurred.