Divorce can come with a lot of different questions. Most people have never gone through a divorce before, and they don’t know what to expect.
Many of these questions are financial. For instance, perhaps you have an inheritance that was given to you a few years ago by your parents. You and your spouse were married when you got it. Now you’re wondering if your spouse is going to take some of that inheritance if you ask for a divorce. Do you get to keep it or not?
You generally will keep the inheritance
Typically, the person to whom the inheritance was given is the person who keeps the inheritance through the divorce. This is because an inheritance is generally seen as a separate asset. If you’d like, you can also use a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement to provide extra protection for this inheritance, but you will likely get it anyway, even if you don’t have these documents in place.
Things get complicated when you’ve already shared some of that inheritance with your spouse, however. This can be known as commingling the assets, and then your spouse may need to get some since they were allowed to use it during the marriage. So the best way to protect your inheritance is simply to keep it separate from the moment you get it until the moment you ask for a divorce.
What other questions may you have about this process?
This is just one of the financial questions you may have as you move toward divorce, so be sure you fully understand your legal options.
