Legal Question in Family Law in California
Keeping what is mine
I recently married the man I have lived with for 25 years. During that time we did not have any jointly held bank accounts. The home was in his name only and he paid all of the household bills and I reimbursed him for my half. I have two bank accounts, one in which my pay check is automatically deposited that I use for expenses and the other is savings only for retirement. Periodically I transfer funds from the expense account into the savings account. It is my understanding that salaries are considered community property so if I continue to transfer funds from the expense account in which my pay check is deposited to the savings account, will the savings account now be considered community property? My main concern is protecting the account from creditors if it became necessary. Also, we will continue to pay the household expenses the same as we always have, and will not have any jointly held bank accounts. The only change that we are making is to hold title to our property as joint tenants. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Keeping what is mine
The purpose of a pre-nuptial agreement is to make sure that the financial arrangement, if it differs from standard community property law, is agreed upon. You may write your own or consult an attorney. I would suggest that you open a separate savings account for your savings during the marriage. That way there won't be any accounting to be done to determine what portion may be separate property. If you are worried about your spouse racking up debt that you will end up paying with your separate property you may want to rethink your marital status.
Re: Keeping what is mine
Any "Community Income" which is put into any account is community property!! The amount of money that was in your retirement account prior to your marriage is seperate property. However, any money that was put into the account after marriage is community property including any pro rata interest paid on the community property portion.
It's too late for a pre-nuptual, you are already married. However, you and your husband are allowed to convert "transmute" community property to seperate property and visa versa.
Had you not deposited any community income (that which was earned during marriage) into your retirement account, you would not have this problem.
Good Luck.
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