Nonmarital Claim Lawyers in Minneapolis

Let Our Minneapolis Nonmarital Claim Attorneys Guard Your Assets

At Mack & Santana Law Offices, P.C., we recognize that nonmarital claims can be difficult to understand and trace in divorce proceedings. We have extensive experience helping individuals protect their financial interests by proving and defending against nonmarital claims.

What Is a Nonmarital Claim?

Nonmarital property is real or personal property that is excluded from the marital estate due to when and/or how it was acquired. Premarital (owned before marriage) property is nonmarital property. Gifts or inheritances to one spouse only, from a third party, constitute nonmarital property also and can occur before, during, and after the valuation date in the case (the end date of the marriage for property valuation purposes). Property excluded by a valid antenuptial or prenuptial agreement (“prenup”) is also nonmarital property, as well as property acquired in exchange for other nonmarital property.

Impact of Value Increase on Nonmarital Property During Marriage

Complex questions arise as to what happens if nonmarital property increases in value during the marriage and whether all, none, or a portion of that increase is marital. Determining the nonmarital property can be difficult when that property has changed or been used to purchase other property. These complexities can be especially true when the nonmarital property was a business or businesses owned by a spouse.

Proving & Defending Against Nonmarital Claims

The spouse seeking to make a nonmarital claim has the burden of proving the asset is nonmarital, and it is important to have attorneys who know what evidence and experts it takes to make the claim. It is also important to know how to defend against such a claim by understanding when evidence is weak or not sufficient to support a claim. Our attorneys have extensive experience in negotiating and litigating nonmarital claims. 

Sometimes divorces get ugly. Sometimes items a spouse needs to prove that their asset is nonmarital go missing or are destroyed. Our attorneys believe it is important to understand this early on in the process if you have a nonmarital claim. This knowledge will enable you to protect and preserve the items needed for your claim, as well as help you get an early start on obtaining them from third-party sources if necessary.