One of the most common concerns of couples who divorce is how their property will be divided. The law in Ohio states that property acquired during the marriage is subject to distribution among the parties, but there are some exceptions to this rule. Inheritance is one of them, so if you got your inheritance while married, you do not have to give a share of it to your spouse unless you mixed the inheritance money with your marital assets.
Property division in Ohio
When a couple decides to get divorced, all the assets and property they acquired during the marriage will be subject to distribution. Marital property includes real estate property, income, retirement funds, bank accounts and almost every asset acquired during the marriage. However, some assets are exempt from this rule. One of them is the inheritance money.
Inheritance as an exception
The courts in Ohio consider inheritance as separate property. However, this may not be the case if the spouse who received the inheritance comingled the inheritance money with their marital assets. For example, the court could consider inheritance as marital property if the beneficiary deposited the inheritance money in a joint bank account they had with their spouse or if they deposited marital assets in the inheritance account. If you don’t want to divide your inheritance money, you must keep it separate from your marital assets. Deposit the money in another account or fund, and never commingle your assets in any way.
Protecting your inheritance
If you are still on time to do so, you can ensure you keep all your inheritance in divorce by creating a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. In it, you can specify that you wish to keep your inheritance as separate property in the event of divorce. If signing an agreement is not possible, you must not worry. Remember that your family member’s inheritance counts as separate property. However, you must not comingle your assets if you want to keep your inheritance intact in your divorce.
