Couples in Minnesota have many legal issues to address when they decide to divorce. One of the most important relates to the division of their property. Marital property including assets acquired during the marriage or with marital income is subject to division in a standard Minnesota divorce.
Unless the spouses have a pre-existing marital agreement outlining property division terms, they have to negotiate or litigate to divide their property. The rules in Minnesota require an equitable distribution of marital property. The goal is a fair split based on the unique details of the marriage.
Sometimes, spouses own assets that are not technically part of the marital estate. What happens to those separate or non-marital assets during the divorce process?
Some assets are not subject to division
Non-marital assets are technically not part of the marital estate. If one spouse already owned valuable property before they got married, they can potentially protect those resources as their separate property when they divorce. Items received as gifts or as part of an inheritance are also usually assets that people can protect as non-marital property. They can retain those assets in most divorce scenarios.
However, claims of commingling can endanger separate property. If one spouse gave the other access to separate property by adding their name to an account or gave them control over their separate property, the non-owner spouse could potentially seek to include those assets in the marital estate. If the spouses used marital income to maintain non-marital property, that can also leave it vulnerable during the divorce.
Nonmarital property affects asset division
When spouses litigate property division matters, the non-marital assets of either spouse can be an important consideration. Judges look at the economic circumstances of both spouses, including their separate property and their income, as they try to decide what would be fair when dividing marital resources. The more property one spouse protects as their separate property, the more likely a judge is to adjust the property division decree to reflect the discrepancy in economic circumstances.
People who understand how the courts handle different economic scenarios can work to protect their resources and fight for a truly fair outcome to property division proceedings. Separate property can be a challenging complication to address, particularly in contested divorce cases.