How do Postseparation Mortgage Payments Affect Classification and Division of the Marital Home?
The classification of equity created by postseparation mortgage payments is on its face a straightforward matter: • Equity derived from mortgage payments made after separation is classified as marital property (and therefore subject to division in divorce) if the mortgage payments were made with marital funds • Equity derived from mortgage payments made after separation is classified as separate or nonmarital property (and therefore not subject to division in divorce) if the mortgage payments were made with one spouse’s separate funds • Equity derived from mortgage payments made after separation is classified as marital property (and therefore subject to division in divorce) if the source of the funds used to make the postseparation mortgage payments cannot be identified. However, because courts are generally not required to give credits to a party who makes postseparation mortgage payments from her or his separate funds and because the law governing the classification of postseparatio
