If I used money that I acquired prior to marriage as a down payment on a home purchased after marriage, does my money become marital property?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I used money that I acquired prior to marriage as a down payment on a home purchased after marriage, does my money become marital property?
The money I used as a down payment was my money that I earned fully before marriage. It was used as a down payment on a home purchased with my husband. If I can trace that money back to my personal account prior to marriage, does that prevent it from being considered marital property?
Asked on January 20, 2012 under Family Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you live in a community property state such as CA, community property is property acquired during marriage. This also applies to income during marriage. Each spouse has a one half interest in the community property.
Separate property is property acquired before marriage or after the marriage ends. This also applies to income before marriage or after the marriage ends. A spouse has no claim to the other spouse's separate property.
Your downpayment on the house was your separate property because it was income before marriage. The fact that you can trace the source of the funds to income before marriage provides evidence that the money used for the downpayment is your separate property. The percentage of the price of the house that the downpayment represents means that percentage of the house's value is your separate property. If you use income during marriage to pay the mortgage, those mortgage payments are community property and your husband would have a one half interest in that portion of the price of the house that is community property.
If you don't live in a community property state, other rules may be applicable.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.