Our condolences extend to you if your loved one has sadly passed away recently. While death never comes at an opportune time, this may be especially hard for you to cope with if you and your spouse decide to pursue a divorce in the coming days, weeks, or months. At a time when the division of assets is looming, you may wonder about the fate of your recent or incoming inheritance from your loved one’s estate. If these circumstances are relevant, please read on to discover how to protect your inheritance from a potential divorce case and how a seasoned Morristown property distribution lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC can offer helpful advice during this critical time.
Is my inheritance considered separate or marital property?
By definition, separate property is considered to be the property that one spouse owned before their marriage. Importantly, though, it can also mean the property gifted to or inherited by a spouse before or during the marriage. Therefore, the New Jersey family court handling your divorce case may categorize your recent or incoming inheritance as your separate property; exempting it from their equitable distribution proceedings. That is, the equitable distribution process divvies up your marital property between you and your soon-to-be former spouse in a way that the court deems fair and just.
How can I protect my inheritance in future divorce proceedings?
You must understand that your inheritance may not be completely protected from your upcoming divorce proceedings if you do not keep it separate during your marriage. For example, you may have solely inherited a cash inheritance but deposited it into a joint bank account you share with your spouse, which you use to pay off your joint expenses. Or, you may have solely inherited a real estate property but retitled it to include both your and your spouse’s names; or sold it and used the proceeds to purchase your and your spouse’s new primary residence. Contrastingly, you may keep this inherited real estate property in your name alone, but your spouse may have financially contributed toward its necessary repairs, utility bills, property taxes, etc. throughout your marriage.
In any of these scenarios, your inheritance may turn into a commingled asset. As the name suggests, a commingled asset is a property or fund that is made up of both separate and marital assets. Now, the New Jersey family court may have difficulty determining who is entitled to or how to split up commingled assets, even if you provide adequate financial records and transaction histories. Ultimately, you may risk losing your rights to the inheritance your loved one left behind for you after your divorce case. In short, our word of advice to you is to keep your inheritance to yourself at all times and contribute to the finances within your marriage using other methods or resources.
All of this to say, the time to act is now. Please pick up the phone or message us at Graves Andrews, LLC. Surely, a competent Morristown family law attorney on our team will be the perfect fit for your upcoming legal case.
