Before a Brevard County judge can divide anything in a divorce, every asset and debt must first be sorted into one of two categories: marital or nonmarital. That classification step — governed by Section 61.075 of the Florida Statutes — often matters more than the division itself, because nonmarital property is not divided at all. It stays with the spouse who owns it. Whether a Melbourne business, a Viera home, or a retirement account built over decades lands in the marital column can swing a settlement by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the team at The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. brings over 89 years of combined experience to getting that classification right.
What Counts as Marital Property in Florida?
Under § 61.075(6)(a), marital assets and liabilities include, with limited exceptions, everything either spouse acquired during the marriage — regardless of whose name is on the title. That includes:
- Wages, salaries, and bonuses earned by either spouse during the marriage
- Homes, vehicles, and other property purchased during the marriage, even if titled to one spouse alone
- Retirement contributions and growth accumulated during the marriage — 401(k)s, pensions, TSP accounts, IRAs
- Businesses started or grown during the marriage
- The enhancement in value of nonmarital assets, when that enhancement resulted from marital effort or marital funds
- Interspousal gifts — items one spouse gave the other during the marriage
- Debts incurred during the marriage, from mortgages to credit cards
Florida is an equitable distribution state, so the court begins with the premise that the marital estate should be divided equally, then adjusts if statutory factors justify an unequal split. Our overview of asset and debt division explains how that second step works.
What Stays Nonmarital?
Section 61.075(6)(b) protects certain property from division. Nonmarital assets include property either spouse owned before the marriage; assets acquired by gift from a third party or by inheritance, even during the marriage; income from nonmarital property, unless the couple treated that income as a marital resource; and anything the spouses validly excluded by a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Liabilities incurred by forgery or by one spouse’s unauthorized signature are also nonmarital and assigned to the wrongdoer.
The label is fragile, though. A premarital brokerage account can become partly marital if contributions continue after the wedding. An inherited sum deposited into a joint account can lose its protected status entirely — a problem explored on our commingling and transmutation page. Keeping nonmarital property nonmarital requires deliberate separation, and proving it in court requires records.
The Cut-Off Date: When Does the Marital Estate Stop Growing?
Classification depends on timing, and Florida draws a bright line. Under § 61.075(7), the cut-off date for identifying marital assets and liabilities is the earliest of: the date the spouses signed a valid separation agreement, a date expressly set by such an agreement, or the date the petition for dissolution was filed. Money earned and debts incurred after the filing date are generally the earning spouse’s alone.
Valuation is a separate question. The judge may value different assets as of different dates, as fairness requires — a volatile stock portfolio might be valued near trial, while a bank account is often valued at the filing date. In practice, the gap between filing and the final hearing at the Moore Justice Center in Viera can be many months, so which valuation date applies to which asset is a frequent and consequential fight.
Enhancement: When a Nonmarital Asset Produces a Marital Claim
The most litigated corner of § 61.075 is paragraph (6)(a)1.b.: the appreciation of a nonmarital asset becomes a marital asset if it resulted from the efforts of either party during the marriage or from the contribution of marital funds. Classic Brevard County examples:
- A spouse owned a Melbourne rental property before the marriage, but marital income paid the mortgage — the paydown of principal and a proportionate share of appreciation become marital.
- One spouse founded a business before the wedding, then spent the marriage growing it. The premarital value stays nonmarital, but the active-effort growth during the marriage is on the table. See our page on business valuation in divorce.
- Purely passive market growth — an untouched index fund rising with the market — generally remains nonmarital.
Separating passive appreciation from active enhancement frequently requires financial experts and careful tracing, especially for long marriages where records are thin.
Who Has the Burden of Proof?
Florida law presumes that assets acquired during the marriage are marital. The spouse claiming an asset is nonmarital bears the burden of proving it — typically with account statements, deeds, closing documents, gift letters, and inheritance records. When real money is at stake, tracing can extend back decades. This is where early preparation pays off: the mandatory disclosure exchanged at the start of every Florida divorce supplies much of the raw material, and targeted discovery fills the gaps. If a spouse appears to be concealing property, our page on hidden assets in divorce outlines the tools for finding it.
Why Classification Strategy Matters in Brevard County
Space Coast divorces have their own texture: engineers and contractors with stock compensation, military families at Patrick Space Force Base with TSP accounts and pensions governed by federal rules, retirees in Suntree and Viera with premarital IRAs, and family businesses along the Wickham Road corridor. Each asset type raises its own classification wrinkles. With over 89 years of combined experience, our team has traced, classified, and litigated virtually every asset a Brevard County family can own — and knows when a classification battle is worth fighting and when it is leverage for a better overall settlement.
Is my spouse entitled to half of everything I owned before we married?
No. Property you owned before the marriage is nonmarital and is not divided — but appreciation caused by marital effort or marital money, and any portion you commingled with marital funds, can become divisible. Documentation is what protects the premarital portion.
My inheritance came during the marriage. Is it marital?
Inheritances are nonmarital even when received mid-marriage, as long as you kept the funds separate. Depositing an inheritance into a joint account or using it to improve the marital home can convert some or all of it into marital property.
Does it matter whose name is on the deed or account?
Title alone does not control. A house bought during the marriage with marital funds is marital even if deeded to one spouse. Conversely, real property held as tenants by the entireties is presumed marital, and overcoming that presumption is difficult.
What is the cut-off date for classifying assets in my divorce?
Unless you signed a separation agreement earlier, the date the petition for dissolution is filed. Assets acquired and debts incurred after that date are generally nonmarital, though valuation dates can differ asset by asset.
Talk to a Brevard County Property Division Attorney
Classification is the foundation of every property settlement — get it wrong and everything built on it is wrong too. The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. represents clients throughout Melbourne, Viera, Palm Bay, and Titusville in property division matters from simple to forensic. Call (321) 529-7777 or schedule a consultation to protect what is yours before positions harden.