You may have thought that separate property can never become marital property but that is a fallacy. It can easily be done when someone fails to think properly about the consequences of changing the form of assets or their location. How could you possibly change separate property like inheritance into marital property? It’s called transmutation. Here are a few examples:
Mixing Accounts: If you put separate property cash together in the same account with marital money and fail to keep account.
Selling Assets: If you sell and asset that was once separate property and then mingle the proceeds with martial money and purchase a new asset without failing to keep account.
Signing Over Ownership: If you put your spouse on the title of your separate property such as a home it becomes a tenancy by the entirety in which each spouse owns 100% of the property.
If you are considering using your separate property to build a new life with your spouse but are not sure about how to protect your interests in the event of a divorce, contact Diana Mohyi Attorney at Law to provide you reliable counsel.