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Nonmarital Property

Quick Facts

Two categories of property in MN divorce law: Marital & Nonmarital.
Property is presumed marital unless proven nonmarital.

Property in Minnesota divorce law is classified as either marital property or nonmarital property. Determining which property is marital and nonmarital can be crucial in a divorce, as nonmarital property is not divided between the divorcing spouses.

Nonmarital property is real property or personal property that acquired by either spouse before, during, or after the existence of their marriage that also meets one or more of the following criteria from the Minnesota divorce statutes:

Was acquired as a gift, bequest, devise, or inheritance made by a third party to one but not to the other spouse.
Was acquired before the marriage.
Was acquired by a spouse after the valuation date.
Was excluded by a valid antenuptial contract. Antenuptial has the same meaning as prenuptial under Minnesota law.
Was acquired in exchange for or is the increase in value of property described in 1 through 4.

If the court finds that either spouse's resources or property, including the spouse's portion of the marital property, create an unfair hardship, the court may apportion up to one-half of the non-excluded property to prevent the unfair hardship.

If the court apportions property other than marital property, it must make findings in support of the apportionment. The findings have to be based on all relevant factors, including the following:

length of the marriage
any prior marriage
age
health
station
occupation
amount and sources of income
vocational skills
employability
estate
liabilities
needs
opportunity for future acquisition of capital assets
income of each party