{"id":298,"date":"2017-09-22T20:08:44","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T20:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eralawgroup.wordpress.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2018-09-28T06:48:21","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T06:48:21","slug":"familyfriday-marital-v-non-marital-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eralawgroup.com\/familyfriday-marital-v-non-marital-property\/","title":{"rendered":"#FamilyFriday: Marital v. Non-Marital Property"},"content":{"rendered":"
When couples get divorce<\/a>d they are required to identify marital property and non-marital property.\u00a0 Many individuals don\u2019t know what makes property marital and therefore, how they may unintentionally make a non-marital asset marital.\u00a0 This week\u2019s #FamilyFriday article defines marital and non-marital property and offers a few tips to protect your non-marital property.<\/p>\n Maryland defines marital property as any property \u2013 no matter how titled<\/u> \u2013 acquired by 1 or both parties during the marriage.\u00a0 Individuals mistakenly believe that if the property, personal or real estate, is in their sole name it means that it is not marital \u2013 not true.\u00a0 By virtue of being married, what\u2019s theirs is yours and what\u2019s yours is theirs.<\/p>\n As logic flows, non-marital property is any property which was acquired prior to marriage.\u00a0 There are also some ways to acquire non-marital property during your marriage.\u00a0 These include an inheritance, a gift from a third person, an agreement between you and your spouse stating what is or is not marital, or any monies which were received through any of the above means.\u00a0 For example, if your parent passes and leaves you $10,000.00.\u00a0 You can put that $10,000.00 into a bank account in your sole name and still have that remain non-marital property<\/a>.<\/p>\n How does non-marital property then become marital property?\u00a0 When you comingle the property.\u00a0 Take the example of receiving a $10,000 inheritance described above.\u00a0 Say you decide to transfer your inheritance into the joint account.\u00a0 Many would think that $10,000 of the balance of their joint account would remain non-marital since it was clearly from their inheritance.\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 The moment those monies were comingled, all of that money became marital property.<\/p>\n