One of the pitfalls in relationships is that many eventually end. When
real and personal property are involved it can be difficult to muddle
through it all. There are ways to protect both your personal and real
property - before this happens¦
How does Separate Property affect Long Beach Home
Ownership?
Why do people combine households without understanding what
is involved in the dismantling of these relationships? Whether you are getting married, combining
households or registering as domestic partners, the issues involved with home
ownership and personal property are quite serious. When these relationships do not work out it
is critical to have your paperwork in order.
This is easier to say than to do, I understand. It is a difficult subject to tackle with
somebody you are in love with and are thinking about spending the rest of your
life with. How many relationships
actually last forever? It is reported
that the divorce rate in America
hovers in the 50% range.
The divorce rate in America for
first marriage, vs. second or third marriage
50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in
divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional
Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.’
According to enrichment journal on
the divorce rate in America:
The divorce rate in America for
first marriage is 41%
The divorce rate in America for
second marriage is 60%
The divorce rate in America for
third marriage is 73%
LaborLawTalk.com
states the average divorce rate for the state of California is 75.54%, based on Court
Statistics Reports for 1996-2004. These
are staggering numbers and should not be ignored.
What is Separate Property?
Nolo defines separate
property: In community
property states, property owned and controlled entirely by one spouse in a marriage.
At divorce,
separate property is not divided under the states property division laws, but
is kept by the spouse who owns it. Separate property includes all property that
a spouse obtained before marriage, through inheritance or as a gift. It also
includes any property that is traceable to separate property ” for example,
cash from the sale of a vintage car owned by one spouse before marriage-and any
property that the spouses agree is separate property. Compare community
property and equitable
distribution.
Property owned prior to and brought into a marriage is
considered separate property. In order
for it to remain ‘separate property’it
must never be commingled with marital or community property. Once separate property is commingled with
marital or community property it becomes community property and cannot be
undone.
Some states, such as California,
have a separate property rule that says that all property brought into a
marriage, including gifts and inheritance, which
is kept separate and apart from community property remains the separate
property of the spouse that owns it.
If one spouse enters a marriage with a checking account with
a large balance, say $100,000 and both parties deposit to this account and pay
bills from it, the protection of separate property is removed and the original
$100,000 has become community property.
In this case if the marriage were to come to an end the $100,000 would
be divided between the parties. Had the
account been kept separate from the marriage, the original owner should leave
the marriage with the $100,000 intact as separate property.
If one spouse enters the marriage already in possession of the home they must have a separate checking account for the management of the separate property. They must be careful not to deposit related funds to or from a community property account. If this is done, the home will most likely be deemed to be community property in the event of a divorce.
Anybody concerned with separate property issues should seek
the advice of an attorney or a financial professional prior to entering into a
relationship. They should then follow
their advice.
Thanks Cyndee. I thought it was a good topic to bring up, there is so little information out there and so few people are familiar with separate property issues.
Laurie.Manny 
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Permalink March 26, 2008 22:54:58
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