New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

  I read an interesting article in Sunday’s Times about how the credit crunch has resulted in more people borrowing money from their friends and families in order to purchase a home.   There is really nothing new about this phenomenon.   Parents have long gifted or loaned their children money for a home down-payment.    There is also nothing new about the myriad of problems that arise when the parties divorce.  Since the down payment generally represents a significant portion of the marital assets, all involved, husband, wife and their parents, may claim the down payment to be theirs.    The... More

The Pennsylvania Family Law Blog poses the very practical question- what do to with a gift or inheritance received during a marriage? How can one insure that a gift to an adult child does not end up marital property subject to the other spouse’s claims? As the blog post points out, Generally, marital property means all property acquired by either party during the marriage, regardless of whose name it is in. An exception arises for property acquired by gift (except between spouses), such as an inheritance. In New York, the same rule applies. Provided the gift remains in the sole... More