During an Illinois divorce, a typical disagreement is who gets the house. There is no rule about who gets the house in this situation, but there are ways that you can protect your home and other assets if divorce occurs. Learn more in this article, and speak to our DuPage County divorce lawyer to learn how to protect your assets in a divorce.
Protect Yourself With A Prenuptial Agreement
The first way to protect specific assets, such as a home, in a divorce, is to draft a prenuptial agreement before the marriage. A prenuptial agreement signed by you and your future spouse allows you to say which property, income, and debts are yours if the marriage ends. Any property, including bank accounts, retirement accounts, and real estate, that was yours before the marriage can be protected with a prenuptial agreement.
If the house you lived in with your spouse was in your name before the marriage, having a prenuptial agreement can be essential to protect it after a divorce. Your prenuptial agreement also can have terms about spousal support, including amounts and duration.
Talk to our DuPage County divorce lawyers today about drafting a prenuptial agreement to protect your home. If you are already married, you also can speak to your attorney about drafting a post-nuptial agreement. If your spouse signs, you can still ensure that a house you owned before the marriage remains yours if the marriage ends.
Keep Assets In Your Name Only
Suppose you owned the home before marriage, and you and your spouse moved into it after the wedding. If you want to protect the home in case of divorce, it helps to keep the property in your name. You should not transfer the house into your spouse’s name because it is potentially marital property at that point and is subject to division in a divorce.
You also should keep any bank accounts and retirement accounts in your name that you had before the marriage. By doing so, these assets should be protected in a divorce.
Other Ways To Protect Assets In A Divorce
There are other ways to protect assets after you are married. Some effective ways include:
Use Separate Bank Accounts
If you have joint bank accounts with your spouse, open accounts only in your name. But you should tell your spouse you have done this to coordinate your payments of monthly costs coming from the joint account.
Do Not Have Joint Credit Cards
If you have credit cards in both of your names, have your spouse help you pay them off and then close them. Only have credit cards in your name. Doing this makes it easier to determine what are marital debts and which are separate debts.
Contact Our DuPage County Divorce Lawyers Today
If you owned the marital home before you were married, there are things you should do to protect it if the marriage ends. If you have questions about protecting your home and other assets during a divorce, contact our DuPage County divorce lawyer at Covert Marrero Covert LLP at (630) 717-2783.
