I owned my home in Hillsboro three years prior to being married. We now also have a home in Portland. Does my husband have any right to my Hillsboro home?

Oregon has two general classifications of property for the marital arrangement known as marital property and marital assets. The first step in characterizing the home, or any asset for that matter, is to decide if it is martial or separate. Once the first step is complete then it needs to be determined if it is marital property or a marital asset. In Oregon, all items to the marriage are marital property and are subject to equitable distribution by the courts. This means that all items accumulated during the marriage are subject to the equitable distribution doctrine including any appreciation in value the home incurs during the marriage. This is true even if the title of the property was kept in only one parties individual name.  However, there may be an interest in the home that is solely yours and that is considered a pre-marital interest.

Also, there are a number of ways to possibly eliminate an interest in the property during the marriage that include one party filing bankruptcy or otherwise encumbering their specific interest. Ultimately, every case is different and a one size fits all approach to any divorce does not necessarily work when defining and distributing assets of the marriage much less if there are children involved. It is important to have the proper analysis and characterization done during your Portland Oregon divorce because once the court’s property division is finalized through a judgment, it is not modifiable except in rare occasions.