Joint Titles

The Marriage Zone – Joint Titles

by
Christopher C. Meyer
 June 2008


If you are thinking about getting married or divorced, you may have questions about the importance of title to property. These questions usually involve real estate, vehicles, and financial accounts.

If you already own real estate, such as a home, and you are planning to get married, should you place the property in joint title with your new spouse? If you are going to stay married forever, it doesn’t matter much, but, keeping in mind that the divorce rate is around 50%, you might want to give serious consideration to this question. Welcome to the Marriage Zone!

In Colorado, if you change the title to real property that is titled in your sole name to a joint title after you are married, you have just given half the net equity in the property (market value minus any loans secured by the property) to your spouse. The only sure-fire way to avoid this is to have a valid agreement with your spouse saying that you are excluding the property from being marital property. If you acquire property during the marriage through your efforts, such as from money earned from your job, the title to the property is not important. For example, you and your spouse (you are married) save money you earn during the marriage and buy a home. You title the home in your name only. This does not mean that you get all the equity in the home in the event of divorce. It is marital property and will be distributed to you and your spouse in a divorce.

The preceding analysis applies equally to property that is not real estate. If you own a car in your sole name before marriage, but put it in a joint title after you are married, you have given half the net equity in the car to your spouse. If you buy a car during the marriage with money you earn during the marriage, but title the car in your sole name, the net equity will be distributed between you and your spouse in a divorce.

The same treatment will be given to mutual funds and other financial accounts. If you change your previously separately registered accounts to joint registration after your marriage, you have given your spouse half of the account value. If you keep the accounts separately registered, the pre-marriage basis in the account will not become marital property. If you open an account during the marriage with funds that you earned during the marriage, but title the account in your sole name, the account will be distributed between you and your wife in a divorce.

Good luck with your marriage, and be alert to the effects of title to property in the Marriage Zone.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice concerning your case.



Chris Meyer is an attorney practicing family law in Monument. His law practice is limited to domestic relations cases. Chris has been practicing law since 1977. He is a former prosecutor and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Florida, California and Wisconsin. Chris can be contacted at 719-488-9395. Chris’s website (www.cmeyerlaw.com) has additional divorce and family law information.