Assets obtained during the marriage are called marital assets. Debts incurred during the marriage are marital debts. Both are distributable upon divorce.
Marital assets may include cars, houses, and household goods. Debts of the marriage are often credit card debts and business debts.
Non-marital assets, or separate property, are assets that a spouse acquired before the marriage. So long as that property remains independent from any marital assets and remains in that spouse’s name, that property remains separate property and is non-divisible upon divorce.
Some property is non-marital, separate property even when a spouse receives it during the marriage such as:
Third-party gifts to one spouse;
An inheritance that remains separate from marital accounts; and
Separate property by contract, such as a premarital agreement.