Marital Property Rights Washington DC

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That depends on the family law of your state. Many states allow the person who acquires the marital property the sole right to manage it - for example, a wife may manage wages she earned. Other states allow either spouse to manage the property, no matter who earned or acquired it. In some cases, both husband and wife must agree - for example, in the purchase or sale of real property. Even if you have no right to manage the property, you may have the right to prevent your spouse from giving it away and the right to recover gifts that your spouse made of marital property. Check with a family law attorney in your area.

What rights do I have in my spouse's non-marital property?

Probably none. The owner of non-marital property has the exclusive right to manage the property and dispose of it in any way that he or she wishes, including giving it away. In some states, however, non-marital property owned by one spouse might be awarded to the other spouse when a judge divides property in a divorce.

What if non-marital property increases in value?

Generally, in family law, any increase in value during the marriage will also be considered non-marital property. For example, if you owned a house before you got married and it doubled in value while you were married, the entire value of the house would probably be non-marital property.

Income from non-marital property

If non-marital property produces income - such as rents or dividends -how is it treated?

This will vary by state. Some states treat the income from non-marital property as marital property and some treat it as non-marital property.