SUPREME COURT OF GUAM Guam Judicial Center, Suite 300 120 West
OBrien Drive Hagta, Guam 96910
Telephone: (671) 475-3162 Facsimile: (671) 475-3140 Web site:
http://www.guamsupremecourt.com
E-mail: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2015 Today, the Supreme Court of
Guam
issued an opinion in the case Damian v. Damian, 2015 Guam 12.
The appeal concerns the trial
courts grant of summary judgment, quieting title to a property
whose ownership was disputed
among family members.
In 2004, the owner of a property, Roy T. Damian (Roy),
transferred title to the property
to his brother, Plaintiff-Appellee Richard T. Damian (Richard),
by quitclaim deed. In 2005,
Roy agreed to dispose of the property through a dissolution of
marriage settlement with his ex-
wife, which purported to create a remainder interest in the
property to Roys son, Defendant-
Appellant Joshua Camacho Damian (Joshua). Roy died in 2006. In
2007, the domestic court
enforced the dissolution agreement, ruling that Joshua was now
entitled to the property. In the
underlying action, Richard brought an action to quiet title to
the property based on the fact that
he received legal title to the property prior to any agreements
between the man and his wife or
any judgments by the domestic court. The trial court granted
summary judgment in favor of
Richard. Joshua appealed this decision, which the Supreme Court
of Guam now affirms.
Todays opinion first holds that the trial court did not err in
its finding that the property
was separate property that Roy was free to transfer without the
consent of his spouse because he
received the property as a devise of separate property from his
mothers estate. The opinion also
holds that the domestic court may not take jurisdiction over the
separate property of a spouse in
