Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: question about car titles transferred b4 divorce is started

Do not transfer the title to anyone. If the car was your vehicle prior to the marriage, and you can prove it, then it can be declared a "non-marital" asset, which means you don't have to share it with your wife. However, if the car has gone up in value since the time of your marriage, especially if you have worked on it during the marriage or bought new parts, then your wife could make a claim for a share of the appreciation in the value of the vehicle from the time you were married until today. We offer a free initial consultation at our office if you are interested.

Re: question about car titles transferred b4 divorce is started

If you owned the car before you married her, your car is your non-marital property. That means that your wife, at mots, is probably only entitled to half of the increase in value of the car during the marriage, not half of the whole value of the car. You would have to show the court that the car was yours before the marriage, through its title, or purchase documents, or whatever. If you did work on the car during the marriage, she might be entitled to some portion of the increased value too.

Also, the court is not likely to force you to sell an asset so she can get her share of the marital value. It would be more likely to just order you to pay her cash, or to give her a little less debt to pay, or more money out of the house or your pension, etc. It would not be a good idea to transfer title to anyone else to avoid this issue; this is called dissipation of assets and will only get you in lots of trouble with the court.