If you’ve received a substantial inheritance from your parents, you may be worried that you’re going to lose some of that money if you ever get divorced. You certainly know that your parents did not want it to go to your ex, but wanted it to stay with you, so how do you ensure that that happens?

The good news is that there are a few different tactics you can take. Let’s look at two of the main ones below.

Using a prenuptial agreement

If you’re not yet married, you may be able to use a prenuptial agreement to simply define the inheritance and show that ownership should stay with you. Your spouse has to agree to this prenuptial agreement and you know that they can’t take any of that inheritance if you do get divorced. If you’re already married, you can do the same thing with a postnuptial agreement, as long as your spouse agrees to sign.

Avoiding commingling

Another thing to remember is that an inheritance that has been kept separate from your other assets will often be considered separate property, even if you do not have a prenuptial agreement. This can change if you commingle that inheritance with the rest of your assets, mixing them together. As long as you avoid doing this and keep it separate, you strengthen your claim that the inheritance was always yours alone and that your spouse never had access to it and shouldn’t expect to keep any of it in the divorce.

Naturally, these situations can get complex since there’s so much money on the line, so be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take.