My spouse and I will be separating shortly. I will want to “downsize” and sell off some of my possessions. Some possessions I want to sell are (legally speaking) separate property, having been inherited or give to me specifically as a gift. If I sell them after our date of separation I assume there is no issue with me keeping 100% of the proceeds.
If I sell separate property BEFORE we are separated are the resulting proceeds considered a marital asset to be divided?
What happens if I sell if after our date of separation but … the separation clock gets “reset”, does that create a problem?
Thank you for your help!
Separate property is always your separate property, even during the marriage. If you sell separate property before you are separated, you are entitled to keep the proceeds from the sale. Essentially, your separate property simply changed form. If you do sell separate property prior to separating, I would make sure you keep the proceeds completely separate from any joint account with marital funds in it; you want to prevent your spouse from making the argument that you essentially gifted that separate property to the marriage by depositing it into a joint account.
Thank you for your prompt reply!
That actually makes sense 