Do I own property acquired during my marriage?

It depends. Was the house gifted with a mortgage or free and clear?

If it was gifted it is unlikely you are entitled any of it.

It depends on several factors. If the gift was specifically only to your wife, no, but the picture gets murkier if common funds were used during the marriage to pay for expenses for the house, like taxes insurance or repairs. If the parties treated the house like community property, you may have acquired some ownership rights. It is a complicated issue in many divorces. There is no short, definitive answer to that question.

Any property received by a spouse as a gift during the marriage will usually be considered separate property and, therefore, exempt from any claim by the other spouse. The question of whether or not there was a gift is one of fact that must either be agreed to by the spouses or a court will have to decide after hearing all the relevant information.

The court in Washington can divide separate and community property. The house is probably your wife's separate property.Often, but not always, she'll get that.

Here is the brief overview of the property law in Washington when it comes to marriage and divorce. 1. Any property acquired before the marriage is the separate property of the person that acquired it. 2. Any property acquired after the marriage becomes defunct is the separate property of the person that acquired it. 3. Any property acquired during the marriage may be either separate property or community property, depending on how it was acquired. a. Property acquired by onerous acquest (one of you had to work for it) is community property. b. Property acquired by gift or inheritance is the separate property of the person receiving the gift or inheritance. 4. Property acquired by using separate money, property or credit is separate property. 5. Property acquired by using community money, property or credit is community property. There are a number of exceptions to this brief set of rules. However, it is a good starting point. As to your particular situation, if your wife acquired a house by gift from her mother, it is probably her separate property. However, like anything in the law, there are a lot of special exceptions and circumstances that can change this.

Gifts to one spouse are separate property. However, if you made mortgage payments on the house or made improvements that increased its value during the marriage, it is partially marital.

If during the marriage you contributed to the maintenance, improvements, taxes, or mortgage payment of a home otherwise owned by the other spouse you can be compensated for the improvements and receive your share if the equity that accrued as a result.

Usually it is not marital property.

Many things determine what property is marital property. If the house was an outright gift to your wife during the marriage, it may very well be partially yours. See a domestic relations attorney for more information.