Law & Justice

Washington Court Upholds Arbitration Award, Leaving Wife Without First Divorce Assets

By TOI World Desk

A Washington Court of Appeals decision on November 3, 2026 upheld an arbitration award that left Joy Ann Gibbs without the USAA accounts and restricted stock units she had been awarded in her 2021 divorce from William Gibbs. The ruling, in case number 60590-2-II, affirmed the lower court’s decision in *In the Matter of the Marriage of William Gibbs and Joy Ann Gibbs* and rejected Joy’s request for a new trial. The court also awarded William reasonable attorney fees for the appeal.

Joy and William married in 1998 and divorced in 2021. Their mediated settlement divided their assets into separate property. Joy received half of several assets, including a BNY Mellon 401(k), joint USAA savings and checking accounts, restricted stock units (RSUs), their ownership interest in Conner’s Pretzel and Wine company, and their wine collection. William retained an E‑Trade Rollover IRA in his name. Although Joy was awarded half of the BNY Mellon 401(k), most assets remained registered in William’s name; she successfully transferred the 401(k) portion into her own name but did not similarly transfer the other assets.

The couple remarried in November 2022 and divorced again after about eight to nine months. During the second divorce, Joy sought to enforce the 2021 decree. The superior court partially granted her request, applying the earlier division to the period between the first divorce and remarriage, but left unresolved the status of assets after remarriage. A new agreement, the CR 2A, was reached through mediation (Joy was represented by her attorney and father). The agreement stated that the marital home would be divided equally, each party would retain all other assets and debts held in their respective names, and that the agreement superseded the 2021 decree. It also required disputes over final orders to be resolved by binding arbitration.

When the parties could not agree on implementing the CR 2A, the matter went to an arbitrator. The arbitrator interpreted the agreement to mean that each party would keep assets held in their own name unless otherwise agreed. Consequently, Joy received the half of the BNY Mellon 401(k) she had already transferred into her name but did not receive half of the USAA accounts or the RSUs, which remained in William’s name. The arbitrator awarded those accounts and stock units to William. The parties agreed to divide their ownership interests in three companies, including Conner’s Pretzel and Wine, equally, and the wine collection was divided equally because it was not registered under either person’s name.

Joy challenged the arbitration award and sought reconsideration, but the arbitrator rejected her request. She then filed a request for a new trial under Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration Rules (MAR) 7.1, a rule that had been repealed in 2019. The superior court rejected her request and confirmed the arbitration award. Joy argued on appeal that her filing should have been treated as a motion to vacate the award because she was challenging the arbitrator’s failure to recognize her ownership rights under the first divorce decree. The appeals court found that her filing was too limited to be interpreted as a proper motion to vacate, did not find that the arbitrator had exceeded authority, and noted that Joy’s lawyer had an opportunity to correct the procedural issue.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the arbitration award and the superior court’s decision, awarded William reasonable attorney fees for the appeal, and declined to address whether Joy’s ownership rights under the first divorce decree had been extinguished, as those arguments had not been properly raised before the superior court. The arbitration award remains in place, leaving Joy without the USAA accounts and restricted stock units awarded to her in the 2021 divorce.