Any items that were acquired during your marriage may be ceded to your spouse as part of a divorce settlement. This means that your spouse might take possession of the family home, a rental property or other real property that you own in Connecticut. However, there are steps that you might be able to take to protect your assets in the event that your marriage comes to an end.
Put your real estate holdings in a trust
Assets that are held inside of a trust are generally prohibited from being divided in a divorce settlement. Furthermore, they generally cannot be seized by creditors seeking to collect on past-due balances. It may be in your best interest to have an attorney help you craft this document to ensure that it will likely be enforced by a judge. It’s important to note that a trust could be dissolved if there is evidence that it was created in bad faith. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to create this document as quickly as possible after acquiring a home, land or a commercial property.
Include the property in a prenuptial agreement
A prenuptial agreement may allow you to reaffirm that any real estate acquired during the marriage is to be considered separate property. Furthermore, a prenup can be used to state that any such property brought into the marriage shall retain its status as separate property. If you buy a home, land or similar assets after getting married, you should consider getting a postnuptial agreement. Judges will generally abide by the terms of this type of contract assuming that it adheres to state law.
An attorney may be able to help you negotiate a favorable divorce settlement in a timely manner. This might be done by reviewing a prenuptial, postnuptial or other type of agreement that was reached prior to the beginning of divorce proceedings. Your attorney may also be able to use information gathered during discovery to help you retain control of a home, land or other real property.