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How Do I Prove What Property is Mine?

Clint Westhoff | April 26, 2017

Transcript

Well, your separate property is gonna be anything that you had prior to marriage, anything that you received during the marriage by gift or inheritance, as well as anything that you can trace directly to something you had before marriage, something you received via a gift or something that you received due to an inheritance. A simple example would be a house. So if you owned a house before marriage, and then during the marriage, you still own that house, that house is going to be your separate property. Then, if you sell the house, all of the proceeds that you receive are also going to be separate property, even if you put them in a bank account or put them somewhere else.

It gets more complicated when you have money, for example, in an investment account, because income earned on separate property is community property. So, the very first dividend that you earn in your investment account means there is now both separate and community in that account. So to prove it by a clear and convincing evidence, you’re gonna have to have every single account statement for that investment account from before your marriage, all the way through your divorce to show exactly what portion of it is gonna be separate, and what portion is gonna be community.

So the bottom line is that you have to have documentation that is thorough, that’s complete and doesn’t have any gaps in it. And although that may sound like a difficult task, with the right legal advice, it can be done and a manageable way and very efficiently. So if you have any questions, call any of the attorneys at GoransonBain Ausley.