Also known as: individual's property
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Property belonging exclusively to one spouse under marital property regimes. The classification covers assets a spouse owns at the time of marriage after the determination date as well as property acquired during marriage by gift from a third party, in exchange for other individual property, through appreciation of individual property, or by decree or agreement designating it as individual.
Isabelle Inman purchased a condominium five years before marrying Ibrahim Iqbal. The couple's determination date falls after the purchase. When they divorce, the condominium stays Isabelle's alone because she owned it before the determination date.
Ira Irving receives a lakeside cabin by bequest from his uncle after marrying Isla Ireland. The will names only Ira. The cabin qualifies as Ira's individual property because it came by third-party disposition at death made solely to him.
Ike Ingram sells stock he owned before marriage and uses the proceeds to buy a sailboat during the marriage. Because the sailboat was acquired with proceeds of other individual property, it remains Ike's individual property.
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Ismael Ibrahim owns farmland classified as individual property. The land's value rises sharply from market forces alone. The increased value remains Ismael's individual property because the gain stems from appreciation of his individual asset.
Infinity Bank grants Ivy Investments a marital property agreement that designates a vacation condo as Ivy's individual property. The agreement satisfies the statutory requirements. The condo therefore becomes Ivy's individual property by the terms of the decree.
Ivan and Ingrid enter a court-approved marital property agreement during marriage that reclassifies a jointly titled brokerage account as Ivan's alone. The decree satisfies statutory formalities. The account therefore becomes Ivan's individual property under the decree's terms.
All property of spouses is presumed marital. A spouse claiming individual status must show the asset falls within one of the statutory exceptions such as premarital ownership or acquisition by gift from a third party.
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No. Title alone does not overcome the marital presumption. The asset must satisfy one of the statutory grounds for individual classification such as acquisition in exchange for other individual property.
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Marital property transferred to a trust remains marital property. The transfer itself does not convert the assets into individual property of either spouse.
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Yes. A marital property agreement or decree that designates an asset as individual property reclassifies it under the statute even if it would otherwise be marital.
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…but also to create and implement a comprehensive plan for the use of land in the community, vastly diminished the rights of individual property owners. It did not, however, totally extinguish those rights. On the contrary, that case expressly recognized that the broad zoning power must be exercised within constitutional limits. In…