Is anything excluded?
There are two exceptions to the above definition.
1. If an item was gifted to either the husband or wife by a third party, then this will not be matrimonial property. An example of this would be if a wife was gifted a car by her mother, and the car was still owned by the wife at the date of separation, then that car will not be included in the matrimonial property.
If, however, the wife sold the car during the marriage and purchased artwork with the sale proceeds, then the artwork would become matrimonial property;
and
2. If an item was received by either the husband or wife by way of succession, then this will not be matrimonial property. An example of this would be if a husband inherited a house from his grandmother’s will during the marriage, and he still owned it at the date of separation, then this house would not be included in the matrimonial property.
If, however, the husband sold that house during the marriage and used the money from the sale of the house to buy a boat, then the boat would become matrimonial property.
In summary, if a party receives an item by way of gift or succession and the item does not change and stays in the same format in which it was received, this will be excluded from the matrimonial property.
If the item is converted into another form, then it will be included in the matrimonial property.