Anna and Herman are a married couple living in Louisiana. They are divorcing. During their 20-year marriage they have amassed quite a lot of property, both real and personal. Some of the profits received on the real estate were generated from rental properties that Herman had before marrying Anna. She, an artist, took it upon herself to do some of the beautiful landscaping and the supervision of extensive remodeling of the houses, which added to their value. Herman assumes that he will probably get all the properties because his separate property was the source of their initial funding. What factors would you anticipate being considered in the determination of the award?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Anna and Herman live in a community property state, Louisiana. The general rule is that anything a married couple accumulates during the marriage is community property; that both spouses own an undivided share of the whole. However, there are some exceptions. Property owned by a spouse before marriage remains the separate property of that spouse. If that property is commingled with marital property it may be transmuted into property of the community's estate. Here, Herman came into the marriage with property that he held individually. But the accrued value and the rents that he received after and during the marriage are now marital assets, and Anna's contribution has increased the property value. Anna will be able to go after those assets, but the ownership of the property will remain Herman's.