Marital property is generally property that is acquired during marriage, is jointly owned by the spouses, and is subject to division upon divorce—whether the spouses reside in (1) an equitable distribution or common law property state or (2) in a community property state.

Marital property is distinct from separate property, which is generally property that a spouse acquired before marriage—or acquired by gift or inheritance during marriage—and is not subject to division upon divorce.

Community property states generally include Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. In these states, divorce courts generally start with the presumption that the marital property is owned equally by the spouses and will be divided equally upon divorce.

In other states—so-called equitable distribution or common law property states—the divorce court attempts to divide the spouses’ assets equitably (fairly) and may consider a spouse’s separate property in deciding to make an unequal division of the spouses’ marital property.

In practice, the difference between the division of assets in community property states and in equitable distribution states is sometimes not as great as it may seem, as the court in a community property state may have the discretion to divide the spouses’ community property on a 60-40, 70-30, or other unequal basis.

Iowa is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state. This means that during a divorce, the court will divide marital property in a manner that it deems equitable (fair), rather than automatically splitting it equally. Marital property in Iowa includes assets and debts acquired during the marriage by either spouse, except for gifts and inheritances received by one spouse. Separate property, which is not subject to division upon divorce, consists of assets acquired before the marriage or individually by gift or inheritance during the marriage. The court considers various factors to determine what is fair, including the length of the marriage, the contribution of each spouse to the marital property, and the economic circumstances of each spouse. While the division is not necessarily equal, it is intended to be just and reasonable based on the circumstances of the case.