Before getting into marriage, all property that an individual owns is referred to as separate property. After marriage, all accumulated assets are then classified as marital property, and these are subject to division during divorce.
However, sometimes couples may mix their separate assets together, commingling them. This occurs when separate property is combined with marital property in such a way that it becomes difficult to distinguish the original separate property from the marital property.
Ways commingling of separate property can happen
Commingling of separate property can happen in several ways, including:
- Inheritance used for joint purchases: Using an inheritance intended as separate property to buy assets or pay off joint debts can commingle it with marital property.
- Improving separate property with marital funds: Using joint funds to improve property owned before marriage can complicate its status as separate property.
- The intermingling of investments: Mixing investments or assets acquired before and during marriage can make them difficult to classify during divorce proceedings.
- Gifts and loans: Mixing funds received as gifts or loans intended for separate use with joint marital funds can lead to commingling issues.
- Depositing separate funds into a joint account: When one spouse places money they owned before marriage into an account that both spouses use, it can become mixed with marital funds.
- Using separate funds to purchase jointly owned property: Buying property during the marriage using funds that one spouse owned before the marriage can lead to commingling if the property is titled in both spouses’ names.
- Using separate funds for marital expenses: Paying for marital expenses, such as mortgage payments or household bills, using funds that were initially separate property, can commingle the funds.
While commingling can lead to challenges during equitable distribution, legal guidance can help ensure that each party’s rights to separate and marital property are fairly represented and protected during divorce proceedings.