Rhode Island Divorce- Avoid Commingling Your Assets By Mistake!

Rhode Island Divorce comes with some interesting questions of law, especially when it comes to property, real estate, personal property and otherwise.

One concept that everyone going through a Rhode Island divorce should be aware of is the principle of "commingling".

This can, and sometimes is, a very arguable concept in a Rhode Island Divorce proceeding and the purpose of this blog post is only to make you aware of its significance. You shouldn't base any decisions on this posting. Just be aware that this concept exists and that it could affect various items of property that you do have that may be subject to equitable distribution in your marriage.

Generally speaking, the principle of "Commingling" takes into account the idea that if you have something that you have thought of as "yours". . . for instance, something that is either pre-marital that you own or a gift or an inheritance that you received, and you treat that property in such a way that it was either used by you and your spouse or perhaps if it even was intended that you and your spouse both use it and have the benefit of it, then you have taken something that was separate and distinct that was YOURS and you have now commingled it with your spouse such that it has now become a marital asset. Once the court determines that something is a marital asset, it has lost its individual character and it is now subject to equitable distribution in your Rhode Island divorce action.

What does that mean practically speaking? Your spouse is entitled to claim that he or she is entitled to part of that asset or part of its value and you may have no way of stopping him or her from doing so.

Commingling is hard to prevent. You must usually take fairly extreme measures to isolate the item from your spouse completely. No contribution, no usage, no payment of storage fees for the item, no cleaning of the item, NOTHING.

The end result. If you want to truly protect something that you have from being considered part of your marital estate should you ever be faced with a divorce proceeding, get a pre-nuptual agreement at least as to those few things. An understanding spouse will realize that all you are doing is protecting a family heirloom or whatever the item may be and not that you anticipate anything other than being with him or her forever.