Once pre-marital assets are commingled they're very hard to separate again: this is basic finance, not bad luck

Some people find this item unlucky sitting on a post-wedding checklist. But its nature is the same as buying insurance: it isn't that you expect something to go wrong, it's that if it does you'll need the records.

What commingling is

Assets you owned before the marriage mixing with assets acquired during it until the two can't be told apart.

The two most common examples:

• Pre-marital savings moved into a joint accountOnce that money flows in and out of the same account as your joint income, a few years down the road, nobody can tell which part was your original funds.
• A house bought before the marriage with the mortgage paid from post-marital incomeEven if the house was bought before marriage, the post-marriage appreciation and the mortgage principal paid off later get pretty complicated to deal with.

After commingling, an asset may legally be treated as marital property in its entiretyWhat gets affected is definitely not just the portion that was mixed in.

Why it matters

Three practical scenarios, none of them involving divorce:

• InheritanceIf you want a specific pre-marital asset to go to children from a prior marriage or to your parents, that asset must be clearly traceable at all times.
• DebtWhich assets your spouse's creditors can reach depends on how those assets are officially registered and characterized.
• Moving between statesCommunity property states and common law states follow different rules, and asset character gets re-examined (see item 73 of the checklist).

Division on divorce is of course also on that list. But even in a marriage that lasts, the first three still happen.

How to do it (it's simple)

1. Keep an independent record of pre-marital assetsOn your wedding day, take photos or print out statements of your respective account balances, holdings, and property positions. These few pages will be the starting point for every discussion down the road.
2. Keep pre-marital assets in separate accounts in your own name, not moved into a joint account
3. Consider paying a pre-marital mortgage from a personal account (where that's workable)
4. Document large transfersThings like a memo line, a transfer note, or a simple written record.

None of this needs a lawyer or costs money; it needs one afternoon early in the marriage.

How this relates to a prenup

A prenuptial agreement (see item 72 of the checklist) puts all this into a formal document with legal force. Keeping records is the minimum when there is no prenup.

If you have pre-marital assets and didn't sign a prenup (which is most people), the records are your only evidence.

More important in a cross-border marriage

If one spouse still holds assets in Taiwan (a house, accounts, policies, inherited property), the character of those assets and the record of transfers back and forth with the US need to be kept even clearer. This involves two legal systems, and gift tax may be in play (see item 87 of the checklist).

In one line

Spend an afternoon early in the marriage photographing your respective pre-marital financial positions. This isn't a defense against your spouse, but a record for your future self.

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