1. The process of tracking property’s ownership or characteristics from the time of its origin to the present (tracing the vehicle’s history). • Parties in a divorce will be expected to trace the origins of property in existence at the time of marital dissolution in order to characterize each asset as separate or marital property (or as community property in some states). — Also termed tracing of funds; tracing of property. Cf. COMMINGLE.
2. The act of discovering and following a person’s actions or movements ( tracing the robber’s steps).
