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Washington couple divorce, remarry and split again; court upholds property deal

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

William and Joy Ann Gibbs originally divorced in 2021 with an agreement to divide multiple financial assets, but Joy only transferred her designated portion of a 401(k). Following their late 2022 remarriage and subsequent separation months later, a newly drafted property agreement dictated that each party would retain whatever assets were held in their individual names. An arbitrator subsequently awarded the disputed USAA accounts and stock units to William because they were still registered under his name. Joy's effort to vacate the outcome through a request for a trial failed because the court rule she relied upon had been repealed.

Key points

  • Superseding agreements can strictly enforce ownership based on current account registrati…: Superseding agreements can strictly enforce ownership based on current account registration rather than previously unexecuted divorce allocations.
  • A request for a new trial under Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration Rules will fail if t…: A request for a new trial under Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration Rules will fail if the cited procedural rule was previously repealed.
  • The Washington Court of Appeals granted William Gibbs reasonable appellate attorney fees…: The Washington Court of Appeals granted William Gibbs reasonable appellate attorney fees after successfully defending the arbitration decision.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A divorce settlement can settle who owns an asset on paper, but what happens when a couple gets back together and later separates again? A Washington woman faced this situation after remarrying her former husband and separating again approximately eight months later. Although their first divorce settlement had awarded her half of several bank accounts and stock assets, most remained in her former husband's name. When they divorced again, a new property agreement and arbitration decision left her without those assets.

In an unpublished opinion dated November 3, 2026, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II, upheld the lower court's decision in

In the Matter of the Marriage of William Gibbs and Joy Ann Gibbs, case number 60590-2-II. The

ruling, available on Justia, affirmed an arbitration award favouring William Gibbs and rejected Joy Gibbs' attempt to challenge the decision through a request for a new trial. The court also awarded William reasonable attorney fees for the appeal.

The first divorce divided their property

William and Joy Gibbs married in 1998 and divorced in 2021. During their first divorce, they reached…

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