Also known as: commingle · commingled · commingling · commingling of assets
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Mixing of distinct assets, funds, or goods so that their separate identities are lost in a combined mass or fund. The mixing supplies a factor for disregarding separate legal status in corporate veil cases and determines whether a security interest attaches to a resulting product or mass under the UCC.
Mia and Jorge deposited personal checks and corporate receipts into the same operating account at CloudForge Inc. When the company defaulted on server fees, DataNest sought to hold the founders personally liable. The court examined whether the mixing of funds demonstrated a unity of interest that justified piercing the corporate veil.
Crestview Holdings held a security interest in equipment sold by the debtor. Sale proceeds were deposited into an account containing other funds. The secured party used equitable tracing principles to identify its share of the commingled balance.
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Compass Logistics pledged resin as collateral. The resin was melted and combined with other polymers at a manufacturing plant to create plastic sheets. A security interest attached to the resulting sheets even though the original resin could no longer be identified.
A trustee placed trust income and personal funds into one brokerage account. When the beneficiary sought to recover misapplied amounts, the court permitted tracing through the commingled balance under equitable principles.
A manufacturer mixed its own dye with a competitor's product during production. The resulting color was sold under a single brand, and the court addressed whether the original components remained distinguishable for infringement purposes.
A law firm deposited settlement proceeds from multiple clients into a single operating account. When one client demanded its share, the firm could not segregate the amounts because of prior withdrawals and deposits.
Commingling is one factor courts consider when deciding whether the separate personalities of a corporation and its owners have ceased to exist. When owners treat corporate and personal assets as interchangeable, the unity-of-interest prong of the alter-ego test is more likely to be satisfied.
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The interest does not continue in the original goods as such. Instead it attaches to the resulting product or mass, and if the original interest was perfected the new interest is also perfected.
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Yes. When proceeds are not goods, the secured party may identify them by any tracing method permitted under other law, including equitable principles that apply to commingled property.
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…such contribution, and the date on which received. All funds of a political committee shall be segregated from, and may not be commingled with, any personal funds of officers, members, or associates of such committee. (c) Recordkeeping. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of a political committee to keep a detailed and…