Hello World! Welcome Friends! Getting a divorce might not have been in your plans, but if that’s what you and your spouse have decided to do, you should know that you will need to sit down and determine how to divide your marital assets. This isn’t always easy, because if you’re not on good terms, it could create conflict as you try to separate your assets and determine who deserves what.
For your benefit, it’s a good idea to hire an experienced divorce attorney who can help you get the results you want from your case. They’ll walk you through the laws that may influence your case as well as any factors that may influence how you divide your property.
How Are Assets Divided During Divorce?
To answer that question, you’ll need to talk to your attorney about your specific state laws. There are two laws that matter most in your divorce case. The first is a community property law. The second is an equitable distribution law.
Depending on the state you are in, you could have your divorce fall under one of those laws.
Community Property Laws
Community property laws are laws that require you to divide your assets equally upon divorce. There are only a few states in the country that still use these older laws. Those states include:
- Arizona
- California
- Nevada
- Louisiana
- Idaho
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- New Mexico
In these states, you will need to divide all of your community marital property equally, not equitably. That means that both parties are entitled to a 50% share of their assets.
Equitable Distribution Laws
Equitable distribution laws are used in all the other states. These laws allow you to divide your property equitably, not equally. You can choose to divide your property 50-50 when it’s appropriate, or else you can choose a different division, such as 30-70, 20-80 or even 10-90.
In either equitable distribution or community property states, couples who can agree on a different division can elect to go with that in their property division agreement. For example, if you live in Texas but want to divide your property 60-40, you could sign a settlement to divide your property equitably instead of equally based on both parties agreeing.
How Do You Know Which Property to Divide?
You can find out which property to divide by breaking your assets down into shared or separate property. Separate property usually includes any property that you owned before marriage. It may also include inheritances and personal injury settlements.
Shared property is normally anything purchased or received during your marriage. Shared bank accounts, your family home purchased after marriage or refinanced in both of your names, and other assets may fall into this category.
The only property you will need to divide during your divorce is marital property, so it is worth taking some time to sit down and determine which property is yours and which isn’t. The more you can set aside as separate property, the less time it will take to resolve your divorce.
Do You Actually Divide Assets in Half?
No, not at all. Instead, what you do is take the value of each piece of marital property and add those values together. Once you have the total value of your shared property, you’ll divide that number in half or equitably, depending on your state.
For example, if your marital estate is valued at $550,000 in a community property state, you’ll each be entitled to $275,000 in assets. If you live in an equitable distribution state and agree to a different arrangement, you’ll each receive the percentage that you agreed on. For instance, in a 60-40 division, one person would receive 60% of the value of the marital property while the other would receive 40%.
To divide your assets, you’ll then have to negotiate. You may have a number of large assets, such as homes or properties, that make up the majority of the value of your assets. You’ll need to decide if you want to keep the asset, buy out the other party or sell. If you sell a home, you’ll divide the profits according to your arrangements.
When Should You Hire a Divorce Attorney to Help?
It’s important to hire an attorney as soon as you know that you’re going to go through a divorce. Even though it may seem like you can handle this on your own, the laws that influence your case could be different than you thought. It’s worth discussing options for separating your property and coming up with unique ways to distribute that property.
Since some divorces are conflicted, working with an attorney can also help you as you look for ways to get through disputes and to resolve arguments. With arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution options, you may be able to stay out of court. With litigation, you’ll want an attorney on your side to represent you.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
I Am Getting Divorced. Do I Need an Attorney?
Broken Air Conditioner: What to Do?
Advantages of Having a Home Gym
How You Can Find the Right Divorce Lawyer
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Toodles,
This is a very informative article. I get a lot of advice from this. It really helps me a lot. Thank you for sharing useful information.