What is separate property?

In general, separate property or non-marital property is any property, real or personal, acquired before marriage, after divorce (or in some states by separation of the spouses before divorce), by gift or inheritance during marriage, or during marriage with separate property funds.

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What is community property?

Community property is a system used by some states to divide property at the dissolution of a marriage, otherwise known as a divorce. Communtiy property is generally considered to be all property that the two parties acquired during the marriage or partnership.

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Who Gets the Marital Home After a Divorce?

If you are getting a divorce and you moved into your spouse’s house after you were married, then the house would not normally be part of the property distribution because it was acquired before the marriage took place. You won’t be allowed to keep the house in most cases, nor will you necessarily get a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the house if it is sold. The general rule of thumb is, anything that was owned before marriage by either party is not subject to distribution in a divorce.

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Is an accident settlement considered community property in the event of a divorce?

Whether or not an accident settlement is considered community property and thus subject to division by the courts in the event of a divorce will depend on what the settlement was for. When the settlement is for pain and suffering, you will not be entitled to any portion of the accident settlement since the pain and suffering was a personal injury that was suffered by your spouse.

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Dividing Military Retirement Benefits in a Divorce

As with a civilian divorce, a spouse of a military member has a right to a share of their spouse’s disposable retired pay. The Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) was originally enacted to authorize a division of military retirement benefits as community property.

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Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce

Most states treat retirement accounts as marital assets that must be divided between spouses when they divorce. In order to arrive at a fair division of the retirement benefits, it is important to understand how the accounts are valued and divided. In general, the rules that govern the division of retirement plans can be very complicated and depend on the type of benefit being divided. In addition, once the division is made, it may be difficult to change it in the future.

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