Robert D. Aitcheson
Charles Town, West Virginia
Attorney for Appellant

Sally G. Jackson
Crawford & Jackson
Charles Town, West Virginia
Attorney for Appellee

The Opinion of the Court was delivered PER CURIAM.
RETIRED JUSTICE MILLER sitting by temporary assignment.

JUSTICE ALBRIGHT did not participate.

         1. "In reviewing challenges to findings made by a family law master that also were adopted by a circuit court, a three-pronged standard of review is applied. Under these circumstances, a final equitable distribution order is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard; the underlying factual findings are reviewed under a clearly erroneous standard; and questions of law and statutory interpretations are subject to a de novo review." Syllabus Point 1, Burnside v. Burnside, __ W. Va. __, 460 S.E.2d 264 (1995).

        2. "'Where, during the course of the marriage, one spouse transfers title to his or her separate property into the joint names of both spouses, a presumption that the transferring spouse intended to make a gift of the property to the marital estate is consistent with the principles underlying our equitable distribution statute.' Syllabus point 4, Whiting v. Whiting, 183 W. Va. 451, 396 S.E.2d 413 (1990)." Syllabus point 2, Burnside v. Burnside, __ W. Va. __, 460 S.E.2d 264 (1995).

         3. "When a spouse uses separate property to retire the mortgage of property titled jointly, a gift to the marital estate is presumed. This presumption is rebuttable only by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that a gift was not intended or that the transaction under scrutiny was the result of coercion, duress, or deception." Syllabus Point 3, Burnside v. Burnside, __ W. Va. __, 460 S.E.2d 264 (1995).

        In this divorce proceeding, Virginia Palmer Storrs, the plaintiff below and appellant herein, appeals the final order of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County entered September 9, 1993. In its order, the circuit court adopted the recommendation of the family law master submitted on July 26, 1993. On appeal, the plaintiff asserts she should have been awarded the marital home, a greater amount of alimony, and attorney's fees. She also contends the circuit court erred in not finding that Lynn Eugene Storrs, the defendant below and appellee herein, secreted certain funds and depleted other marital funds. After reviewing the record, we do not find the circuit court committed error by adopting the findings of the family law master. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

        The family law master conducted three days of hearings beginning April 28, 1993, on the issues of equitable distribution, spousal support and attorney's fees. The recommendations of the family law master allowed the disposition of certain personal property which is not at issue in this appeal. The plaintiff was granted the exclusive use and occupancy of the marital home. However, the home was ordered placed on the market for sale. The plaintiff is to receive $8,938.41 from the sale of the home, which is the difference in value of the assets assigned to the defendant. The remaining proceeds from the home are to be divided equally.

        The evidence shows that in April of 1963, prior to the first divorce proceeding in 1966, the parties entered into a separation agreement which called for the plaintiff to receive all the interest in the marital home at that time situated in Landover Hills, Maryland. This property was sold for $10,650.25 following the parties' remarriage. Furthermore, when the plaintiff retired in 1972, she received a lump sum payment of her accrued retirement benefits, totaling $17,857.62.See footnote 1 This money was used along with the proceeds from the sale of the Landover Hills home to buy the lot and construct the marital home which is now in dispute located in Avon Bend, Jefferson County.

        The defendant was ordered to pay alimony to the plaintiff in the amount of $235 per month pending the sale of the home. After the sale of the home, the defendant's alimony obligation will increase to $320 per month. The family law master found both parties should bear their own expenses of attorney's fees and costs because they are in similar economic circumstances.

The plaintiff challenges certain factual findings of the family law master in addition to matters concerning questions of law. We will address her contentions below.

In Burnside, supra, we relied on our holding in Whiting v. Whiting, 183 W. Va. 451, 396 S.E.2d 413 (1990), to find that a presumption of gift to the marital estate does exist when separate property is converted to jointly held property. In Syllabus Point 2 of Burnside, we stated:

                "'Where, during the course of the marriage, one spouse transfers title to his or her separate property into the joint names of both spouses, a presumption that the transferring spouse intended to make a gift of the property to the marital estate is consistent with the principles underlying our equitable distribution statute.' Syllabus point 4, Whiting v. Whiting, 183 W. Va. 451, 396 S.E.2d 413 (1990)."

This gift presumption may be overcome, however, with substantial evidence that clearly demonstrates the lack of donative intent. In Syllabus Point 3 of Burnside, supra, we held that unsupported allegations that a gift to the marital estate was not intended are insufficient to rebut the presumption:
                "When a spouse uses separate property to retire the mortgage of property titled jointly, a gift to the marital estate is presumed. This presumption is rebuttable only by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that a gift was not intended or that the transaction under scrutiny was the result of coercion, duress, or deception."

The plaintiff asserts the facts of this case are indistinguishable from those found in Wood v. Wood, 184 W. Va. 744, 403 S.E.2d 761 (1991), where we upheld the circuit court's decision to provide for an unequal distribution of marital property because Mrs. Wood used her inheritance as a downpayment on the marital home. We disagree. Significantly, the plaintiff's lump sum retirement funds could best be characterized as marital property and not separate property because the funds were acquired during the course of the marriage.See footnote 2 See W. Va. Code, 48-2-1 (1992).See footnote 3 We agree with the family law master that the proceeds from the sale of the first marital home were converted to marital property when used to construct the second marital residence over twenty years ago. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we must affirm the circuit court's decision to evenly divide the proceeds from the sale of the home (after the plaintiff receives $8,938.41 to equalize the distribution of the assets). Accordingly, our review of the record demonstrates that the family law master and the circuit court did not err by equally dividing the interest in the marital home.

        The plaintiff also contends she should receive full title to the marital home because of the defendant's actions in dissipating the marital assets throughout the marriage. See W. Va. Code, 48-2-32 (1984).See footnote 4 She argues the defendant controlled the finances throughout the marriage and secreted funds from her. The plaintiff argues the defendant removed substantial sums of money from joint accounts over the years of the marriage without showing the source of the funds or how the money was spent. On this issue, the family law master specifically found:
                "That the Plaintiff believes that the Defendant has substantial sums of money which he has not disclosed to the Court, but has secreted, but that the Court upon review of the testimony of the parties and witnesses and of the evidence addressed does not find there is sufficient evidence to support this theory."

        The family law master found that at the time of the parties' separation, the defendant had two bank accounts: a NOW account of approximately $20,840, and a checking account of approximately $4,280. The family law master found the plaintiff had a savings account of $178, two checking accounts totaling $1,400 and $4,000, and a certificate of deposit for $10,000. The plaintiff argues either the defendant had more unidentified accounts taking into consideration his income, or that he wrongfully dissipated the marital funds.

        We agree with the plaintiff that the record evidence shows she was not apprised of the couple's financial situation because the defendant managed their finances and did not allow her access to jointly held accounts.See footnote 5 The testimony of the parties indicates that substantial factual disputes exist as to how much money was spent when and how much money was withdrawn by the defendant during the course of the second marriage.

        The plaintiff testified she would give the defendant approximately $50 of her $110 per week paycheck while she was working. The plaintiff stated she still had to pay the telephone bill, provide her own lunch, and purchase the children's birthday gifts and Christmas gifts. She argues the defendant stockpiled their assets for his own personal use and forced her to live on next to nothing. The plaintiff concedes, however, that she earned substantially the same as the defendant during the time they were both employed.

        The defendant testified that he paid the couple's monthly bills from his paycheck. He stated the small sums of money withdrawn over the course of ten years identified by the plaintiff were used basically for living expenses. He also testified that some of the withdrawals were used to finance the couple's extensive travels. The plaintiff admitted to taking regular vacations to Florida and Maine and traveling to Europe. However, she argues she was forced to pay her own way. Finally, the defendant stated that when they reunited after a separation in 1985, he gave the plaintiff $10,000 he inherited from his brother to try and make amends. He stated he accounted for all money presently in his possession and denied secreting funds.

        After reviewing the parties' testimony and evidence submitted on this issue, we do not find the family law master erred in holding the plaintiff failed to put forth sufficient evidence to support her theory that the defendant dissipated the marital assets. Central to the resolution of this issue is the credibility of the parties. As previously held, witness credibility determinations will not be disturbed by this appellate court. See State v. Guthrie, __ W. Va. __, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995) (appellate review is not a device for this Court to replace the lower court's findings with its own conclusions as an appellate court should not decide witness credibility).

        Our review of the evidence, however, indicates the family law master took into consideration the fact that the plaintiff has the use of the home, rent free, as there is no mortgage on the home. Furthermore, once the home is sold, she will receive $320 per month in alimony for a total monthly income of $788.See footnote 7

        For the foregoing reasons, we do not find the circuit court abused its discretion in adopting the family law master's recommended alimony award.See footnote 8

                "(2) The amount of any increase in value in the separate property of either of the parties to a marriage, which increase results from (A) an expenditure of funds which are marital property, including an expenditure of such funds which reduces indebtedness against separate property, extinguishes liens, or otherwise increases the net value of separate property, or (B) work performed by either or both of the parties during the marriage."

                "(4) The extent to which each party, during the marriage, may have conducted himself or herself so as to dissipate or depreciate the value of the marital property of the parties: Provided, That except for a consideration of the economic consequences of conduct as provided for in this subdivision, fault or marital misconduct shall not be considered by the court in determining the proper distribution of marital property."