The amount of money you walk away with to secure your financial future will depend on several factors, the most important being whether the family wealth was earned during the marriage or if the breadwinner made it before they walked down the aisle. State laws are relatively consistent, holding that marital property is subject to division in a divorce, and includes all money earned during the marriage, even if it is in an account solely titled in your spouse’s name.
What Is Considered Marital Property?
Specifically, any salary, bonus or earnings, retirement contributions, homes, businesses or cars purchased during the marriage by either spouse are considered marital property subject to division in a divorce. Marital property is typically divided equally (50/50) or equitably, depending on your state’s rules and whether you live in an equitable division or community property state.
What Is Separate Property?
Separate property includes all property that was owned or acquired by either spouse before the marriage. If your soon-to-be-ex had oodles of money before you got married, most likely you will not get a penny of it. You are also out of luck if your spouse received money from an inheritance or a gift from another person. A personal injury award to compensate for pain and suffering also falls in the bucket of separate property.
Wealthy individuals are also much more likely to have a prenuptial agreement. This legal document typically spells out what is separate property if the two of you split and often ensures that the lesser moneyed spouse walks away with less.
