Uniform Marital Property Act

Uniform Marital Property Act (UMPA), U.S. law enacted in 1983 that defined the ownership of property by married persons and the means to divide the property in the event of divorce or death. The Uniform Marital Property Act (UMPA) created a class of property that belonged to the marriage rather than the individuals. This class of property encompassed all property belonging to all spouses, with several exceptions. In the event of questionable property—whether it belonged to either spouse (individual property) or was general marital property in nature—UMPA considered it to be marital property, in which case evidence to support the claim of individual property was needed.

Property of a spouse that was not marital property was considered individual property. Individual property included that which was acquired by a spouse before the UMPA’s effective date (1983) or before marriage. Other types of property could be obtained during marriage and yet remain individual property, an example being an inheritance. Likewise, a gift to a spouse from a third party remained individual property. Other types of property were also defined in UMPA, including property income, insurance policies, and deferred employment benefits.