Your spouse may be entitled to a portion of your inheritance during your divorce. It depends on a variety of factors, including how you received, used and stored that inheritance.
California is a community property state. In general, this means that all community property is owned by both spouses and may have to be split equally. However, if you have separate property, you get to keep it exclusively during the divorce.
So the question then becomes whether or not an inheritance that you got from your parents qualifies as a community asset or a separate asset. If it is a separate asset, you can keep the entire amount. If it is a community asset, you may need to split it with your spouse.
Commingling your inheritance
The general rule with an inheritance is that, at the time you initially receive it, it is a separate asset that belongs only to you.
However, that inheritance can be commingled in a number of ways. You may mix it together with other marital funds, for example, if you put it into a joint investment account or a joint bank account. You may give your spouse access to it if you use the money to pay shared debts and bills, such as property taxes, mortgage payments or credit card bills. You can also commingle the inheritance if you use it to buy another marital asset, such as purchasing a home together.
Once the inheritance has been commingled, this can turn it into a community asset, meaning that your spouse has a right to it along with you.
Navigating a complicated divorce
As you can imagine, one type of conflict during high-asset divorce cases is whether or not the inheritance has to be split. If you find yourself in this position, it is crucial that you know what legal options you have.
