When going through divorce, you have a lot of complex things to worry about, such as asset division. This is one of the most contentious parts of divorce for many.
You may thus have many questions related to the division of assets, like what sort of properties count as separate.
Community property vs. separate property
The Business Professor takes a look at different categories of property in divorce. Community property includes the property that you and your spouse share, and thus will divide during the process of asset division.
Typical examples of community property include things that you and your spouse bought with both of your money, like houses or cars. It can also include things purchased with a joint bank account, even if you bought the item for yourself exclusively. Finally, it may include anything with both of your names on it, even if only one spouse financially paid for the item.
Separate property is the property that belongs to you and only you. In most cases, this property is exempt from asset division during the divorce.
Typical examples of separate property include gifts given to you directly during your marriage, property that you owned before the marriage, and inheritance that you received during the marriage.
Separate property as community property
However, there are some cases where this may become community property. If you add the assets to a joint account or purchase a joint property with them, then those assets become community property even if they started off as inheritance money or other individual assets. This is why it is important to be careful with assets during marriage.