In this video I will be discussing the topic of what happens if you place your spouse’s name on property that you own prior to marriage. To start, unless you do something to change this rule of law, or unless lump sum alimony is awarded, which is a separate video that I’ve done, property that you own prior to marriage remains your separate non-marital property, and will not be awarded to your spouse in a divorce.
In simpler terms, you owned it before marriage, you will continue to own it after marriage. Your spouse will have no interest in it. However, and it is a frequent occurrence, that after marriage a spouse – say the wife – will put her husband’s name on the title of the property that the wife owned prior to marriage. She will do so with good intentions, and think nothing of the legal consequences if the parties ever get a divorce and unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which side of the issue you are on, there are indeed major legal repercussions to this act.
In general, no matter your intent, unless there is strong evidence that placing your spouse’s name on the title of the property was not meant as a gift, under Georgia law, your placing your spouse’s name on property you owned before marriage will be seen as gifting him or her the property. What this means is that you will lose your non-marital interest in the property, and the entirety of the property will suddenly become marital property, as if you never owned it before marriage. It works like this. Say husband owns a house prior to marriage that has $200,000 of equity in it.
Husband marries wife, and a few years into the marriage, husband puts wife on the title to the home, so they own the home jointly. Then, a few years later, the parties get a divorce. What is the effect of putting the wife’s name on that title? Well, if husband had not put his wife’s name on the title, at the time of the divorce, the $200,000 of equity would remain his premarital property, and wife would not be entitled to any of it, because it’s all husband’s premarital property. Nor would she be given any credit for any of the appreciation that may have accrued over the years on the property.
However, now, because he did put his wife on the title of the property, she is now entitled to 50% on the entire equity in the home, plus 50% of any appreciation on the home, and 50% of any mortgage pay down that occurred during the marriage. The long and short of it is do not place your spouse’s name on property that you owned prior to marriage without first consulting an attorney.
As to legal impact this might have on your rights to that property, if you do not intend a gift, if you intend to transfer to protect the home from creditors, a transfer of title to your spouse can be accomplished in a way that does not potentially gift your non-marital interest away. Each divorce is different, and the circumstances unique, and in each divorce there are traps like this that can be taken advantage of by a divorcing spouse. At Shaw Law Firm, we understand the nuances of family law very well, and we welcome your inquiries and telephone calls. Thank you.
In this video I will be discussing the topic of what happens if you place your spouse’s name on property that you own prior to marriage. To start, unless you do something to change this rule of law, or unless lump sum alimony is awarded, which is a separate video that I’ve done, property that you own prior to marriage remains your separate non-marital property, and will not be awarded to your spouse in a divorce.
In simpler terms, you owned it before marriage, you will continue to own it after marriage. Your spouse will have no interest in it. However, and it is a frequent occurrence, that after marriage a spouse – say the wife – will put her husband’s name on the title of the property that the wife owned prior to marriage. She will do so with good intentions, and think nothing of the legal consequences if the parties ever get a divorce and unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which side of the issue you are on, there are indeed major legal repercussions to this act.
In general, no matter your intent, unless there is strong evidence that placing your spouse’s name on the title of the property was not meant as a gift, under Georgia law, your placing your spouse’s name on property you owned before marriage will be seen as gifting him or her the property. What this means is that you will lose your non-marital interest in the property, and the entirety of the property will suddenly become marital property, as if you never owned it before marriage. It works like this. Say husband owns a house prior to marriage that has $200,000 of equity in it.
Husband marries wife, and a few years into the marriage, husband puts wife on the title to the home, so they own the home jointly. Then, a few years later, the parties get a divorce. What is the effect of putting the wife’s name on that title? Well, if husband had not put his wife’s name on the title, at the time of the divorce, the $200,000 of equity would remain his premarital property, and wife would not be entitled to any of it, because it’s all husband’s premarital property. Nor would she be given any credit for any of the appreciation that may have accrued over the years on the property.
However, now, because he did put his wife on the title of the property, she is now entitled to 50% on the entire equity in the home, plus 50% of any appreciation on the home, and 50% of any mortgage pay down that occurred during the marriage. The long and short of it is do not place your spouse’s name on property that you owned prior to marriage without first consulting an attorney.
As to legal impact this might have on your rights to that property, if you do not intend a gift, if you intend to transfer to protect the home from creditors, a transfer of title to your spouse can be accomplished in a way that does not potentially gift your non-marital interest away. Each divorce is different, and the circumstances unique, and in each divorce there are traps like this that can be taken advantage of by a divorcing spouse. At Shaw Law Firm, we understand the nuances of family law very well, and we welcome your inquiries and telephone calls. Thank you.
You begin your divorce by contacting a good attorney who knows what they are doing, and your attorney will consult with you, advise you whether you should even get a divorce, talk about the relevant issues you have to deal with, whether now is even a good time to file, what sort of planning you need to do, and the attorney will instruct you how to proceed forward.
By: Scott Shaw
You begin your divorce by contacting a good attorney who knows what they are doing, and your attorney will consult with you, advise you whether you should even get a divorce, talk about the relevant issues you have to deal with, whether now is even a good time to file, what sort of planning you need to do, and the attorney will instruct you how to proceed forward.
By: Scott Shaw
In a divorce in Georgia, an issue that often comes up is how do you divide a military pension? Under federal law, a military pension is considered to be marital property in a divorce. Now the entirety of the military pension may not be marital, but the portion that you earn during the marriage is subject to be divided in the state of Georgia.
So one of the first challenges you have is to ascertain what portion of your military pension is going to be marital property and subject to division and what portion is not, and therefore you’ll get to keep without dividing it with your spouse, and this is not an issue. It’s just any attorney can figure out for you.
It’s often mistakes are often made on it. Another misconception for military pensions is people often think that you have to be in the military for ten years in order for a pension to be divided, but that’s not true. The ten year rule only applies to how long you have to be married if you want the military to garnish your share of the pension.
If you’re married for less than ten years, the pension is still subject to be divided. You just have to get it paid directly from the spouse who receives the military pension. Military pensions are a frequent issue in divorce. Shaw Law Firm has handled many of these. If you have any questions, we’d be happy to take your telephone calls or inquiries. Thank you.
By: Scott Shaw
In a divorce in Georgia, an issue that often comes up is how do you divide a military pension? Under federal law, a military pension is considered to be marital property in a divorce. Now the entirety of the military pension may not be marital, but the portion that you earn during the marriage is subject to be divided in the state of Georgia.
So one of the first challenges you have is to ascertain what portion of your military pension is going to be marital property and subject to division and what portion is not, and therefore you’ll get to keep without dividing it with your spouse, and this is not an issue. It’s just any attorney can figure out for you.
It’s often mistakes are often made on it. Another misconception for military pensions is people often think that you have to be in the military for ten years in order for a pension to be divided, but that’s not true. The ten year rule only applies to how long you have to be married if you want the military to garnish your share of the pension.
If you’re married for less than ten years, the pension is still subject to be divided. You just have to get it paid directly from the spouse who receives the military pension. Military pensions are a frequent issue in divorce. Shaw Law Firm has handled many of these. If you have any questions, we’d be happy to take your telephone calls or inquiries. Thank you.
By: Scott Shaw
Well, that depends. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all issues are settled, or if you have a case and were able to reach a settlement before the need to go to court, then you will not need to go to court except for maybe five minutes to take a routine final. But if there are contested issues in the divorce, yes, you will need to go to court.
You will testify, and other people may testify on your behalf. It just depends on the case. So you will need to expect to testify, but any good attorney will prep you for your testimony, and most of our clients do very well on the stand. The one thing to keep in mind is you need to tell the truth because not telling the truth can often be more harmful than telling the truth. But other than that, you will be prepped and prepared to testify.
By: Scott Shaw
Well, that depends. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all issues are settled, or if you have a case and were able to reach a settlement before the need to go to court, then you will not need to go to court except for maybe five minutes to take a routine final. But if there are contested issues in the divorce, yes, you will need to go to court.
You will testify, and other people may testify on your behalf. It just depends on the case. So you will need to expect to testify, but any good attorney will prep you for your testimony, and most of our clients do very well on the stand. The one thing to keep in mind is you need to tell the truth because not telling the truth can often be more harmful than telling the truth. But other than that, you will be prepped and prepared to testify.
By: Scott Shaw
Again that depends on whether it’s a non-contested divorce with all terms settled or whether it’s a contested divorce. Contested divorces go anywhere for $2,500, $20,000, $30,000 or higher. I would say that if you have a contested middle class divorce, the average is between $5 and $20,000. If you have a contested divorce with an estate in the seven figure range, you’re probably talking $20 to $50,000 in cost. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all the terms are agreed to, we can usually do that for a flat fee of around $2,000.
By: Scott Shaw
Again that depends on whether it’s a non-contested divorce with all terms settled or whether it’s a contested divorce. Contested divorces go anywhere for $2,500, $20,000, $30,000 or higher. I would say that if you have a contested middle class divorce, the average is between $5 and $20,000. If you have a contested divorce with an estate in the seven figure range, you’re probably talking $20 to $50,000 in cost. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all the terms are agreed to, we can usually do that for a flat fee of around $2,000.
By: Scott Shaw
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