People in Pennsylvania buy various property, save money in various bank accounts and acquire other property throughout their lives. They obtain this property at different stages in their life as well. They may acquire it when they are young before marriages, during marriages and potentially in between marriages. When people acquire the various types of property may not matter on a day-to-day basis, it does make a big difference if people go through divorces.
During a divorce couples need to divide their marital property. This generally means all property that the couple acquired during the marriage. It does not matter which spouse earned the money or acquired the property, it is all considered marital property and needs to be divided. Property acquired prior to a marriage is considered separate property and generally remains with the spouse that owned it prior to the marriage after a divorce. However, during a marriage, people may use their separate property for various reasons.
Tips for keeping property separate
When people do this they may be comingling the their separate property with marital property, which may result in people losing the separate property in divorce. There are certain things people should do during the marriage to ensure this does not occur.
One is to keep records of the separate property they want to keep separate. People should also keep the property as separate as possible. If people use the non-marital assets to buy property during the marriage, make sure they purchase property that is also easy to keep separate from marital property. Keep records of increases to retirement accounts or investment accounts during the marriage. Be sure that people can trace non-marital assets that may be comingled.
Divorces in Pennsylvania can be complicated and emotional. During a divorce couples need to divide the life they shared during the marriage into two separate lives. This involves dividing their marital property. Part of this process includes determining which property people own is marital and which property is separate. Experienced attorneys understand this process and may be able to guide one through it.
