One of the most unpleasant area in a divorce is how to handle a split of an inheritance received by someone in a divorce for reason that the law in this area is not always fair. Usually if a spouse receives an inheritance and is smart enough to keep it in his or her name than that party will be awarded the inheritance in the divorce.
On the other hand if the money was commingled with marital money or placed in both names than the opposing spouse has a claim on the money. This does not mean that the judge has to split the money as a good judge can find ways to be fair based on the fact that a divorce action is equitable and the judge’s have latitude in making an award. For instance if a large sum of money is placed in both names the judge might award a lesser amount of spousal support than would be normal without the inheritance being split.
Quite frequently I have seen a spouse receive an inheritance and then make expensive improvements to a home that was in both names and then later be subjected to a divorce action. Usually the spouse that made the improvement wants a credit for all or part of the money and the opposing spouse wants the equity split without allowance for the inheritance.
If you have a divorce with these sort of property settlement issues and need advice please call and we can evaluate your options. If you read this and have recently or anticipate receiving an inheritance call for a consultation so that you can protect your interest and insure that you are not setting up a plan that leads to you losing your inheritance in a divorce.