When going through divorce, many people have the highest concerns regarding their asset division.
To that end, it is good to know as much about the upcoming asset matters as possible, including figuring out community versus separate properties.
Defining each property
The Business Professor takes a look at both separate and community properties. These are the categories that your assets will fall into when they go through the division process.
First, separate properties. These exist as individual properties that neither one will have to worry about dividing. This typically includes things like gifts given directly to the individual, things that they owned before the marriage, and inheritance.
Community properties are the assets that will undergo division. This typically includes cars, houses, land and so on. Anything that both parties financially contributed to and anything purchased with a joint bank account falls into this category in most cases.
When property types change
Finally, there are some assets that might start off as separate property but end up classified as community property. For example, if one person inherits a good sum of money and then deposits that into a joint bank account, it then counts as joint assets. This means it is subject to division like any other piece of community property.
Because of this, it is important for both members of the couple to have a strong understanding of how property division works and how property ends up categorized in the eyes of the law. This could prevent any hardships from happening during situations like divorce.
