When you inherit something, does your spouse get a claim to it too? In most situations, they do not. However, you still need to take steps to protect your inheritance and make sure that you do not make any errors that could allow your spouse to try and claim a piece of it during a divorce. A Morton divorce lawyer can tell you more about how to safeguard these assets.
Is an Inheritance Separate or Marital Property?
In most cases, an inheritance that was passed down to you and only you would be considered your property. This is true even if you were married at the time you inherited the money, property, or whatever other assets were left to you.
It’s a different story if the inheritance is clearly left for you and your spouse. If a relative explicitly names the two of you in their will and says that you would both receive the inheritance, then an argument can be made that it is a marital asset. There are also some things that you want to avoid doing once someone has passed significant assets down to you if you want property laws to continue to offer you protection.
How Can I Protect My Inheritance?
If you want to protect your inheritance, you need to avoid some of these common mistakes:
Conversion: If someone leaves you a house or a car, keep that property in your name. If you change the title or deed to include your spouse’s name, they are going to have a viable claim to the property.
Commingling: When you are left a significant amount of money, do not put it in your joint bank account. This is known as commingling. Mixing your inherited funds with shared money is just a bad idea.
Allowing your spouse to care for the inheritance: Let’s say you inherit a house, but you do nothing with it. Meanwhile, your spouse stops by occasionally to take care of the property or maybe they even have parts of it redone, increasing its value. If you divorce, your spouse can make a credible argument that this inheritance is shared property because they contributed to its upkeep and increased its value.
How Can I Show That This Inheritance Is Only For Me?
The best way to do this is to keep all of the relevant paperwork. You need the title or deed to the inherited property, a copy of your relative’s estate planning documents, and anything else that can show that something was left to you and only you. It can also help if you can show that you did not commingle this property with marital assets.
Contact Our Law Firm
If you want to learn more about how you can protect inherited assets in a divorce, contact Butler, Giraudo & Meister, P.C. You do not want to make any costly mistakes that would allow your spouse to make a claim to your property during divorce proceedings.
