Marital property is what you and your spouse acquired through your work and investments during the marriage, and a Georgia divorce divides it equitably. Separate property is not divided, though growth in its value from either spouse’s efforts can be.
What Equitable Division Is
In Stokes v. Stokes, 246 Ga. 765 (1980), the Georgia Supreme Court upheld a jury’s award to a husband of a one-fourth interest in a house titled in his wife’s name, “not as alimony but as equitable division of property.” OCGA 19-5-13 directs the court to carry out “the verdict of the jury disposing of the property in a divorce case.” Where there is no jury, the judge divides the property.
The Line Between Marital and Separate
“[O]nly the real and personal property and assets acquired by the parties during marriage is subject to equitable property division.” Moore v. Moore, 249 Ga. 27 (1982). There, a couple divorced and remarried, and a mobile home the wife received in the first divorce could not be divided in the second, because she brought it into that marriage.
Separate property generally means what you owned before the wedding and what someone else gave you alone or left you during the marriage, as our posts on premarital property, gifts, and inherited property explain.
Property acquired right up to the final decree can be marital. Friedman v. Friedman, 259 Ga. 530 (1989).
Equitable, Not Equal
Thomas v. Thomas, 259 Ga. 73 (1989), sets out two steps: “First, the property must be classified as either marital or non-marital. Second, the marital property must be divided, not necessarily equally, but equitably.” Classification follows legal rules, so the trial court could not treat part of the husband’s separate property as marital to restore money the wife had given him before the wedding.
Separate property can still become marital, as our posts on that subject, commingled property, and the source of funds rule explain.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!