But That's MY Stuff

In both Virginia and North Carolina, your spouse has no claim to your separate property, as long as you keep the property segregated. Any items you had prior to the marriage, any gifts given except for gifts from your spouse, and anything you inherit will remain yours. If you have mixed in your separate property with marital property, changed the title to joint names, or actively increased the value of the property, you may have transformed the property into marital or hybrid (Virginia) or divisible (NC) property. Hybrid/divisible property is somehow a combination of separate and marital assets.

Frequently, I'll have a client upset because a spouse has stated that he or she is going to lose some sentimental heirloom in the divorce. He's threatening to take half of her aunt's china in the divorce. She's threatening that he'll lose his grandmother's desk or his childhood comic book collection. If these items are separate property, your spouse has no claim to these assets and is merely trying to bully you.