Pre Marital Accounts

[goliath7]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA
I am currently going through a divorce. My ex brought into the marriage several bank accounts totalling about $65000. During the marriage, all of those accounts were combined with mine, had my name placed on them, and we always filed joint tax returns listing the growth of the accounts as income. My question....is that money considered marital property since it has been mingled or is it pre marital in the eyes of the court?

 

[ecmst12]

Difficult to say for sure, certainly any growth during the marriage is marital, but if it is just cash and has been mingled with other funds, you may be able to argue the entire amount is marital. For those numbers you would be a fool not to have an attorney.

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA
I am currently going through a divorce. My ex brought into the marriage several bank accounts totalling about $65000. During the marriage, all of those accounts were combined with mine, had my name placed on them, and we always filed joint tax returns listing the growth of the accounts as income. My question....is that money considered marital property since it has been mingled or is it pre marital in the eyes of the court?

I think you're asking the wrong question. Whether the money is marital property or not is irrelevant. What you want to know is how the property will be divided.

Georgia is an equitable distribution state. That means that the court will decide what is fair in terms of property division if the two of you can't reach an agreement on your own.
Divorce Support - Georgia Property Division Factors

Undoubtedly, if one person came into the marriage with a lot of money and the other didn't, the judge will take that into account in dividing the property - whether it was mingled or not. The shorter the marriage, the more important that will be.

 

[LdiJ]

I think you're asking the wrong question. Whether the money is marital property or not is irrelevant. What you want to know is how the property will be divided.

Georgia is an equitable distribution state. That means that the court will decide what is fair in terms of property division if the two of you can't reach an agreement on your own.
Divorce Support - Georgia Property Division Factors

Undoubtedly, if one person came into the marriage with a lot of money and the other didn't, the judge will take that into account in dividing the property - whether it was mingled or not. The shorter the marriage, the more important that will be.

The more money that moved in and out of the accounts during the marriage matters as well. An account that only had money moving in, for example, and little moving out would be easy to divide, because it would be easy to determine the premarital vs marital portions

An account that had significant money moving in and out would be more complicated, because it would be more difficult to determine premarital vs marital.