Whatever property either party to a marriage had prior to the date of the marriage is typically considered premarital property. This has several important exceptions, however, and one spouse’s personal property may become marital property during the course of the marriage.
Key Takeaways
Examples of Pre-Marital Property
- A vehicle which belonged to one spouse prior to their marriage
- A house one spouse owned prior to their marriage
- Any assets that were inherited by one spouse prior to their marriage
- Lottery ticket winnings won by one spouse prior to their marriage
- Gambling winnings won by one spouse prior to their marriage
- Assets gained from a legal settlement by one spouse prior to their marriage
- A pet acquired by one spouse prior to their marriage
- A gift given to one spouse either by the other or by someone else prior to the marriage
- A savings or investment account of one of the spouses which belonged exclusively to them prior to their marriage and which was never added to by the other spouse in any way
Most of these examples have other rules which may be relevant to them in the context of marriage, but the important thing to remember is that absent a well-structured prenuptial agreement, any of these can potentially become marital property if they are in some way contributed to by the other spouse during the course of the marriage.
Is a House Purchased Before Marriage Premarital Property?
Take, for instance, the example of the house: if one spouse had owned a house prior to their marriage, but the other spouse used their own separate funds to make significant improvements to the house, thereby dramatically increasing its value, it is possible that during the course of a divorce a court would view the house as no longer the first spouse’s separate premarital property but would instead consider it to have become marital property due to the improvements and would split its value along those lines and distribute it between the spouses that way.
Can a Premarital Dog Become Marital Property?
The example of a pet can also be emotionally charged and may very well be considered by a court in a similar way to parental rights. Let’s say one spouse adopted a rescue dog while they were living alone and were not yet partnered. Once they got together with their future spouse, that future spouse took on the bulk of the responsibility for caring for the dog, taking them on daily walks, paying for and giving the dog a specific type of food, administering monthly medication, and generally being the primary caretaker for the dog. Even though the first spouse is the one who went and got the dog from a shelter, signed adoption papers, and paid the adoption fee, and they were not yet married at this time, the future spouse who ended up taking on the primary responsibilities related to the care of the dog may have a legitimate legal argument in the event of a divorce that this dog is now marital property and actually better off in their care.
Another example would be if a person moved to a different city for work and fostered a dog as a companion while their partner was back in their home city, pending a move. Once the partner moves to join them, the two decide to officially adopt the dog, sign the papers, and pay the fee split equally. Then they get married, and after some time, unfortunately, they decide to divorce. Is the dog considered the premarital property of the partner that first made the move? Is the dog marital property since they had adopted it together prior to their marriage? This one is also a case where the dog is likely considered marital property rather than the first partner’s premarital property due to the fact that they officially adopted the dog together at the same time and using an equal share of funds.
Let’s now break down the example of a winning lottery ticket. Let’s say that partner A went and bought a lottery ticket at their nearest gas station, and, extraordinarily luckily for them, it was a winning ticket worth $100,000. Partner A and partner B are unmarried but are engaged and planning to purchase a home together. They are obviously thrilled and decide to use the money on a downpayment for their new house once they get married. Once they do this, the $100,000 winnings are no longer premarital property but have now become marital property because they are used by the couple after their marriage and for their mutual purpose of purchasing a home. Especially if the mortgage is then paid for by the spouses equally, the house is their marital property, and so is the money used to acquire it.
This brings us to the important notion of transmutation by commingling. Transmutation is a legal concept in family law, which means that separate premarital property can become mutual marital property. This would happen through the commingling of separate assets, transforming those assets into marital assets by mixing them together.
Premarital Property Agreements/Prenuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements, also known as premarital property agreements, are an important legal tool that can protect your assets in the unfortunate event of a future divorce. In a prenuptial agreement, you can lay out what will be considered separate premarital property and under what circumstances it can be transmuted into marital property, if at all.
You may choose to include a stipulation that even if your spouse contributes to your individual, premarital property, such as through advising you on where to invest your premarital assets and they end up growing, the resulting increase in value of your investment assets will stay your separate premarital property and will not be converted into marital property even by your spouse’s contributions. As long as both spouses have had a fair chance to review a potential prenuptial agreement and both fully agree to such a stipulation, it can be perfectly valid to go this route.
Cases where premarital property stays premarital property
There are also situations in which one spouse’s premarital property can always stay their premarital property. If one person’s grandmother left them an expensive and sentimentally valuable piece of jewelry in her will, and the grandmother passed away when the person was still a teenager and years away from meeting their future spouse, this piece of jewelry will very likely stay that person’s premarital property and their spouse will have little chance of making a successful legal claim for it.
In Conclusion
When deciding to get married, it is prudent and advisable for a couple to discuss their property division in the event of divorce. They should make a note of their individual premarital-owned property and make a plan for how it will be used and categorized during their marriage and potentially after. This is just smart planning.
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