Also known as: marital estate · marital property
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Interests in property that arise as a result of marriage. At common law these interests included dower, curtesy, and the life estate by and during coverture.
Miranda Morales and Malcolm McKinley jointly owned a gallery in State A. The state statute designated Malcolm as head of household and allowed him alone to sell the couple's shared artwork. Miranda sued, claiming the statute violated equal protection by giving only husbands unilateral power over marital property.
Madison Meyers inherited a parcel of land before her marriage to Mohan Malhotra. After the wedding the couple signed a marital property agreement that reclassified the land as Madison's individual property. Under the agreement the land remained outside the marital estate available for division.
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Maya Malik sought maintenance after her divorce from Ming Ma. The court first divided the couple's marital estate and then examined Maya's share of that estate along with her independent earning capacity before setting the maintenance amount.
Miranda Morales named her then-husband Malcolm McKinley as beneficiary on several revocable accounts. After their divorce the decree was silent about the accounts. Upon Miranda's later death the probate court treated the designations as revoked and distributed the assets to her estate rather than to Malcolm.
Madison Meyers received an insurance payment after fire damaged marital real estate. The couple had not executed any agreement reclassifying the recovery. The payment therefore stayed within the marital estate subject to division rather than becoming Madison's separate property.
Mohan Malhotra suffered injuries in an accident during the marriage. The settlement compensated both his pain and suffering and medical expenses already paid from marital funds. The portion covering those expenses remained marital property while the rest became Mohan's individual property.
The term refers to dower, curtesy, and the life estate by and during coverture. These interests arose automatically upon marriage and gave one spouse rights in the other's land.
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Such a statute violates equal protection when it grants only husbands unilateral power to dispose of jointly owned marital property. The classification fails intermediate scrutiny because it rests on impermissible gender stereotypes.
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A recovery for damage to marital property remains marital unless a decree, marital property agreement, or written consent reclassifies it. The classification rule prevents automatic conversion to individual property.
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The portion attributable to expenses already paid from marital property stays marital. The remainder attributable to pain and suffering becomes the injured spouse's individual property.
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Yes. Modern probate codes revoke revocable dispositions to a former spouse unless the governing instrument, court order, or marital agreement expressly preserves them.
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…cohabitation without marriage. The Family Law Act, the court observed, aimed to eliminate fault or guilt as a basis for dividing marital property. But once fault or guilt is excluded, the court reasoned, nothing distinguishes the property rights of a nonmarital "spouse" from those of a putative spouse. Since the latter is entitled to…