Separate Property

Separate property is property a spouse may keep after a divorce in a community property state. Separate property can include property owned by either spouse separately before marriage, gifts or property which were inherited during the marriage, property bought with a spouse's own funds, property that a spouse converted from community property to separate property, and debts acquired prior to the marriage.

In a community property state separate property can also allow income from rents, profits, wages, sales proceeds, dividends or interest generated by an asset acquired before marriage to remain exclusively for the partner who owns the property. Separate property laws also allow for income to remain separate. For instance, if one partner has a rental home and it generates income this income can belong exclusively to the partner who owns the property.

Even in a community property state the courts may be allowed to divide separate property assets under specific conditions. For instance, courts may divide separate property if there are no marital assets and one spouse has a large separate estate, the marital liabilities exceed the assets, or there are no marital assets, or one spouse remained at home and cared for children and the other spouse has valuable separate assets. Talk to a divorce lawyer if you live in a community property state and have questions about how your assets will be divided in a divorce settlement.