Today, we are going to discuss the topic of Separate Property when it comes to a West Virginia divorce. A common question I get asked is “What is separate property exactly?”. Now we’ve talked about this a little bit before in some of our other articles, but I wanted to dive into that a little bit more. Be super clear on what constitutes what they call separate property. Now separate property falls into several categories. Number one, we had talked before about a prenuptial agreement. If something is listed in the prenuptial agreement as your separate property or his or her separate property and the court accepts the agreement, that’s going to be considered separate property.
What If I Brought Property Into The Marriage?
Separate property is also any kind of property that you bring into the marriage. For example, let’s say you have guns or you have jewelry. Anything tangible that you bring into the marriage is going to be considered separate property. Also, separate property could be gifts that you receive while you and your spouse were together. Let’s say you get some Christmas gifts from your parents or from your kids or whoever, that’s going to be considered to be your separate property.
What About Separate Property That Takes on Aspects of Marital Property?
When you have separate property that takes on aspects of marital property, this is where it can become tricky. For example, if you have a bank account and that bank account stays in your separate name, but marital money is going into that same account, then that becomes to a large extent, marital property. You have to be very careful. Even if your name is on a particular account, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be considered to be your separate property. The most common question I get when it comes to marital property is “Because my name is on it solely, does that mean that it is my separate property?”. The answer to that is generally no. It’s not going to be your separate property unless certain conditions have been met. For example, let’s say that you have a bank account that you came into the marriage with. Let’s say you don’t put any kind of money in it at all once married. It just gains interest for example. Even a savings account or money market accounts or anything like that and none of the money that you’re currently earning is going into the account once you were married. In that event, that would generally be considered to be your separate property. Those are some of the basics as to what separate property is. I just wanted to go over some of these details of it, so that you are better prepared in this subject when the time comes.
