Are Gifts Given Or Received During The Course Of Marriage Subject To A 50/50 Split In A Divorce?

Are gifts given or received during the course of marriage subject to a fifty-fifty split in a divorce?

Gifts from one spouse to another, in my opinion, are still a part of the community estate. You can make arguments either way, but the best practice or rule of thumb is anything that one spouse gave to another during the marriage you need to anticipate is going to be treated as community. Gifts that a spouse receives from outside of the marriage such as, a gift from a parent, or a grandparent, or some award that was earned by one spouse during the marriage can be treated as separate property. However, you have to be very careful what you do with that money because if you are gifted a sum of money, or real property, or some type of asset you receive it solely or individually outside of the marriage. You then have to maintain the integrity of that separate property because if you commingle those funds then you are again running into the situation where you are running the risk of that award being treated as community property the moment you commingle those funds.