Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: My (ex)wife owned our house before we were married.

If you contributed to an increase in equity in the house through any variety of means(capital, labor, materials, etc.) and can prove it by a preponderance of the evidence, then you would have a marital claim which could be the subject of an equitable distribution by the court if in the course of the marriage's dissolution proceedings the parties cannot come to an agreement on the issue(the amount of your marital claim).

Re: My (ex)wife owned our house before we were married.

You should consult with a Virginia attorney to discuss the applicability of the law to the facts of your particular situation. The following is general legal information on equitable distribution in Virginia.

Section 20-107.3 of the Code of Virginia, in selected portions, provides as follows:

�A. Upon decreeing the dissolution of a marriage, and also upon decreeing a divorce from the bond of matrimony, or upon the filing with the court as provided in subsection J of a certified copy of a final divorce decree obtained without the Commonwealth, the court, upon request of either party, shall determine the legal title as between the parties, and the ownership and value of all property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the parties and shall consider which of such property is separate property, which is marital property, and which is part separate and part marital property in accordance with subdivision A 3�

�2. Marital property is (i) all property titled in the names of both parties, whether as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety or otherwise, except as provided by subdivision A 3, (ii) that part of any property classified as marital pursuant to subdivision A 3, or (iii) all other property acquired by each party during the marriage which is not separate property as defined above�

�3. The court shall classify property as part marital property and part separate property as follows:

�.a. � In the case of the increase in value of separate property during the marriage, such increase in value shall be marital property only to the extent that marital property or the personal efforts of either party have contributed to such increases, provided that any such personal efforts must be significant and result in substantial appreciation of the separate property...

�d. When marital property and separate property are commingled by contributing one category of property to another, resulting in the loss of identity of the contributed property, the classification of the contributed property shall be transmuted to the category of property receiving the contribution. However, to the extent the contributed property is retraceable by a preponderance of the evidence and was not a gift, such contributed property shall retain its original classification...

�f. When separate property is retitled in the joint names of the parties, the retitled property shall be deemed transmuted to marital property. However, to the extent the property is retraceable by a preponderance of the evidence and was not a gift, the retitled property shall retain its original classification...

� B. For the purposes of this section only, both parties shall be deemed to have rights and interests in the marital property. However, such interests and rights shall not attach to the legal title of such property and are only to be used as a consideration in determining a monetary award, if any, as provided in this section.�