Your Guide to Gifts and Inheritances During Divorce
Jun 23, 2021
When determining what constitutes a fair and equitable distribution of marital property, courts consider various variables, hence the need for a Brighton Beach divorce lawyer. Here’s how gifts and inheritances are viewed and handled.
How Does The Court Separate Gifts and Inheritance
Here’s the thing to remember with gifts and inheritances: If the gift isn’t combined with marital assets, it’s separate property.
What exactly does that imply?
So, regardless of what your spouse claims, if you’ve inherited or been gifted money and kept it separate from the funds you shared with him, the money is your independent property.
If you put your inheritance in a joint account or used it to make a combined purchase with your husband, it most likely becomes marital property at that point. As a result, it is now subject to division.
Managing Gifts and Inheritance
Inheritance management is usually straightforward. It’s a distinct property if the funds are not mixed with marital assets. Gifts, on the other hand, can be more difficult.
Gifts from a third party to either spouse are treated as independent property if they are not commingled with marital assets. So far, everything has gone well. However, in divorce cases, there are frequent conflicts over whether the money was given as a gift or a loan.
If your spouse received money from a family member years before, without any payback agreement, but now that you’re divorcing, they have suddenly felt compelled to repay the money that was “borrowed” so many years ago – that money is now out of any prospective settlement!
Unfortunately, preventing such a contentious problem necessitates taking action well before it becomes either contentious or a mess; therefore, a promissory note stating that it’s a gift and to whom it is essential.
A Divorce Lawyer Brooklyn Can Help
A Brighton Beach family lawyer at Levitsky Law Firm can help. They will tell you to keep distinct assets separate and keep solid records; you won’t go wrong. Separation and documentation are your best defenses against anyone claiming what is yours.