Community Property is property acquired during the marriage. This includes income of either spouse. In other words if the wife earns money from her employment during the marriage it is considered community property. The same applies to the husband. If property is acquired with community property, it likewise is deemed community property.

Pension benefits and 401K’s, regardless of whose name they are in, can be considered community property under certain circumstances. Do not assume that just because a person has their name on a bank account, or a vehicle title, or a pension or title to a home, that it will be deemed the separate property of a specific spouse. This is not the case. The character of the property (as community or separate) will be determined by the law, not by the way title may be held.

Separate Property is property that a person has prior to marriage, or inherits, or is gifted after marriage. Separate property can be “traced.” This means that if you had separate property prior to marriage and purchased additional property with that separate property, that item of property purchased retains its character as separate property and, generally, won’t be awarded to the other spouse by the judge.

As a general rule the courts will attempt to divide the community property equitably. Unfortunately, “equitable” doesn't always mean 50/50. However, for the sake of simplicity, unless other factors come into play the court will attempt a 50/50 distribution of assets and debts.

One must keep one very important aspect of property and debt distribution in mind however and that is that in the State of Washington, all property is before the court for fair an equitable distribution. That means that the judge can do anything he/she wants to do in an effort to divide property equitably. The judge can take from the separate property of one spouse and award it to the other, or divide the community property any way he/she sees fit. As in all other aspects of the law there are no guarantees.

Distribution of property and liabilities can be a tricky process. Mr. DiPietro can show you how a more “inventive” approach to the distribution of property and debts can be used to help you obtain the fair and equitable distribution you are entitled to.

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