When you and your spouse have commingled assets, it can affect the property division portion of your divorce. The way you split up the assets that you own can change.
Generally speaking, couples have marital assets that need to go through equitable property division in Florida. If you and your spouse own things together, the court helps you find a way to fairly divide them up.
However, you may also have separate assets, which you own personally. Your spouse does not necessarily get a portion of them in property division.
Mixing assets together
When you mix these assets, it is known as commingling. That can change their status from being separate assets, turning them into marital assets.
For example, say that you saved up $100,000 over the course of your career, all prior to getting married. You kept that money in a personal bank account. If it stayed in your own personal account and your spouse was never given access to it, it is likely a separate asset, so you do not have to divide it.
But if you got married and then transferred the $100,000 into a joint account with your spouse, this commingles it and mixes it with other marital assets. Courts will often order that the entire account now qualifies as a marital asset, so you have to split up even the money that you earned prior to getting married, unless you have a prenuptial agreement stating otherwise.
The status of your assets can dramatically change how they are divided in property division, so it is very important for you to understand exactly what legal steps to take during the divorce.