If you are making plans to get married, you and your soon to be spouse probably have discussed how you will combine your property. As an example, one of you may decide to give up your townhouse and have a yard sale to sell extra kitchen accessories or furniture. But it’s also wise to consider how this property might be divided the marriage ends in divorce, or traditionally consider the fundamentals of overseeing your marital property.
When spouses get divorced, marital property (which is acquired in the course of the marriage or otherwise jointly-shared) gets divided pursuant to state marital property laws. Some states have “community property” laws, which results in a more or less 50/50 split of marital property. On the other hand, a large portion of states utilize an “equitable distribution” method in which the needs and assets of each of the parties are taken into consideration when dividing marital property. Irrespective of your state’s laws and your family’s individual situation, the following recommendations will help you decide how to best oversee your marital property.
Overseeing Marital Property: What You Need to Do
Do think over going into a prenup before marrying, to clearly state which property isn’t at risk of division following your death or if divorce happens.
Do maintain correct and complete documents and records to establish the separate kind of property you want to keep unrelated to the marital estate. Property that you may want to keep separately can compromise of property you had before getting married, or inheritance or gifts you receive in the course of the marriage.
Do make sure you’re keeping all separate property separate during the course of the marriage if you’re worried about keeping it in your family (or as personal property) upon your death or if a divorce happens. Usually, meaning you shouldn’t intermingle property you owned prior to the marriage with property you and your spouse get throughout the course of the marriage, or it may become tricky — if not impossible — to legally specify if they’re separate or marital property.
Do recognize that the increase in worth of non-marital property may be deemed marital, so that each spouse has the right to a portion of the increased worth upon a divorce or the death of the property owner. This is notably true if the increase (or “appreciation”) in worth is thought of as “active” as opposed to “passive.” Passive appreciation is, as an example, the increase in worth of a bank account due to interest gained, or the increase in property worth resulting from standard inflation. Active appreciation, at the same time, occurs due to some sort of effort, such as reflooring rental property or actively managing a holdings portfolio.
Do only use your non-marital property for purchasing other property that you want to be regarded as separate property. That is to say, a motorcycle that you paid for with funds you had before marrying and held in a separate account after marrying will be regarded as separate or non-marital property. However, should your spouse pay for some of it, or even helps with its maintenance, the motorcycle could lose its description as non-marital property.
Do keep money received from any personal injury lawsuit during the course of your marriage separate, when you want those funds to keep their non-marital property description. The funds you get from a personal injury case is only yours, aside from any portion that reimburses you for your loss of income or pays compensation to your spouse for the loss of your companionship or support.
Overseeing Marital Property: What You Should Not Do
Don’t use separate funding to pay off marital liabilities, or those funds may possibly lose their non-marital description.
Don’t deposit income earned in the course of the marriage into non-marital accounts. Income earned in the course of the marriage is typically thought of as marital property and depositing that income into a non-marital account could result in intermingling so that the non-marital account is no longer regarded as separate property.
Don’t open a shared bank account with non-marital funding, even if you are intending to keep track of what portion is separate. It’s a lot wiser to retain separate accounts when you want to keep your non-marital assets separate.
Don’t think that just because you owned property before you got married, no percentage of it will be thought of as marital property. As an example, if the home you owned before marrying increases in its worth in the course of the marriage due to you and your spouse’s endeavors to maintain and improve it, your spouse could be entitled to a percentage of that increase in worth.
Don’t think that a business you owned before you got married stays as an entirely non-marital asset after marriage. Should your business or professional practice increase in worth throughout the marriage due in part to your spouse’s support, your spouse could be entitled to a portion of the increase in worth upon divorce or your death. Such support can be clear cut – as an example book keeping or entertaining potential clients — but they can also be more subtle – as an example caring for the home and caring for children so that you can center your attention on running your business.
Get Professional Assistance Overseeing Your Marital Property
Marital property typically doesn’t turn into an issue unless the spouses are breaking up, but it might also be a component in a prenuptial agreement or other concerns. When you have any legal questions with marital property, the best thing you can do is to locate professional legal help. Find a family law attorney near your area and get some tranquility.
Source:
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Managing marital property: DO’s and don’ts. Findlaw. (2018, November 14). Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.findlaw.com/family/marriage/managing-marital-property-do-s-and-don-ts.html
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