Civil Marriage and Assets

SJI · #1 (**permalink**) 08-20-2002, 05:15 PM

Suppose you marry a woman from Colombia in a civil wedding in the US, does she then immediately have rights to 50% of your assets? Does she first have to receive her green card, or be married to you for a certain period of time? If you want a divorce, is it easier before she gets her papers? When are the critical points?

SJI · #2 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 09:36 AM

To answer my own question, these things vary from state to state. Here in Maryland, if you marry a woman from Colombia, and then divorce her in a short period of time after the wedding, you won't lose 50% of your assets. Now exactly how long a "short period of time" is such that you don't lose anything, I am not sure. But here in Maryland she does not get your loot the minute she marries you, thank God.

Bill123 · #3 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 02:17 PM

Adn she shouldn't ever have any rights to any money you had BEFORE you married, right??

Chao · #4 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 02:30 PM

It's best to ask a lawyer about this, since, as SJI said, it varies from state to state. I used to work for IRS, and when divorced couples filed a tax return using joint status, the IRS would have to divide the refund and pay each spouse separately according to the law of the state in which they resided.

chao

SJI · #5 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 02:39 PM

I think these things are so varied from state to state it's not even worth trying to
predict what actually happens. But in general I think whatever you accumulate after you get married may be suspect. If I got married and then made out in the stock market, then got divorced 1 year later, I would be concerned as to where all that money would go.

#6 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 05:09 PM

SJI- Your question is very important and valid. I don't have the answer and yes, state by state is different. Hopefully Robert Vignola could add something here. What you have before you marry should remain yours after, but how far into the marriage will her financial interest begin to grow? What if she doesn't even work a job and stays home to cook and clean....... is she intitled to $$ if you divorce? A prenup is vital.... even a Micky Mouse one if you don't start it at the bullet proof 6 months before. I would assume if your married after six months then her $$ interest would grow in your home, your cars, your company. Make sure in your prenup you dot the I's and cross your T's! With todays judicial system all is possible and even the impossible, i.e. OJ Simpson, so cover your ass, prey to god your new wife will not screw you and hope for the best.

Getting married is a risk and if you have a high value of net worth and your wife is a MOB then you could be facing a double-edged sword..... is it worth it?

It's very remote but possible, you marry your fiance and one year later you have nothing....zero.... your living in a studio apartment on the southside, working two jobs just to get by..... possibly flipping big macs..... kinda scary isn't it?

Everyone of us will eventually be faced with this decision. This IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL.

Prepare yourself. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Junfan · #7 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 06:56 PM

Generally, the women can at best hope to recieve 50% of the community property accumulated after the date of marriage, net of debt. It is, however, very important to keep 'your ****' seprate, not co-mingled with the day to day op expenses of the home, nor should you continue to contribute savings after date of marriage to that account. SEPERATE PROPERTY STAYS SEPERATE. She may be able to claim the capital appreciation or dividends/interest on the separate property that accrued after the DOM. But I'm not sure on that, it never came up in my case. The real nightmare scenario, as I saw it, was that she hired an attorney, maybe claiming abuse or some other typical bull**** trick, and got the courts to make me pay her an apt. and car while her status was pending or as long as the attorney could drag out the divorce. But, my **** was separate, and she got what she was entitled to, even a little more. The key is to get them on the plane. And that, gentlemen, may come down to cold hard cash!

So, in a nutshell, she is at the best entitled to 1/2 of what the house accumulates after DOM. BTW, that can include principal payments on your house. I can go on and on, and I'm sure some of the attorneys that may be out there could offer something up on this.

The facts are that there is a huge inequity involved in most of these situations. That is why, if you recall, I said I would stick to the upper middle-class to upper class women soas to close this differential somewhat.

Junfan · #8 (**permalink**) 08-26-2002, 07:03 PM

And I forgot...the limited partnership is a great way to protect yourself, and in many cases makes a prenuptial unecessary. It also protects you from other types of litigation.

It's what I have.

And SJI, I had mine drawn up a few mos after my marriage, but my attorney saw no issue with it...so, there are steps that one can take.

Bill123 · #9 (**permalink**) 08-27-2002, 11:29 AM

It would seem that principal payments on the house, which pay down mortgage, shouldn't have any effect on her right to any appreciation....but what do I know!!

Junfan · #10 (**permalink**) 08-27-2002, 12:01 PM

Bill,
Let me clarify...say you have a mortage on house valued at 100k, with the note being for 50k...say over the course of a few years, after you are married, you pay a total of 10 grand in principal, with money that you earned after you were married. Well, that 10k increase in equity was 'accumulated' during the marriage, and is hence community property.

There is a difference between appreciation and increase in equity.