What Happens To My Property In Divorce?

By: Christy | Posted: 18th March 2011

You and your spouse have come to the conclusion it is time to part ways, part the waters and part with half of your property in divorce.

Every divorce case will have its ups and downs. There will be low spots and probably not a lot of high spots. You’ll want to sit down and take a long hard look at what happens to the division of property in divorce.

You and your spouse can do this privately or you may need to enlist the aid of attorney’s.
Lawyers may help you come to a fair division of property in divorce. A divorce is a very emotional time and one or the other of you may not want to fairly divide assets. This is when the courts will help you complete the process.

Fifty/fifty sounds like a fair decision but there are several factors the judge will review. Some of these factors will be the income level of each spouse. He will look at the age and health of both spouses and there may be separate property in divorce in some cases and states. They also take the careers of each spouse into consideration as well as which parent decided to raise any children in the marriage.

There is more than likely a home that was the primary residence during the marriage. This becomes part of the divided property in divorce in most cases. The court has several ways of dividing the marital home.

The courts can order the marital home sold, paid off and then any profits that are left over can be split between the spouses. If there are minor children, the custodial parent could be allowed to retain this property in divorce until the children graduate. The judge may also order the spouse that remains in the home to purchase the other spouses portion of the home from them as part of the property in divorce settlement.

There are many different ways that property in divorce can be divided. Each case is different and if the couple cannot decide on their own then the court will decide on equitable distribution for the property in divorce.

All other assets in divorce will be split in basically the same way. The rules will vary about division of property from case to case and state to state. Some states are community property and the decision is usually to split all marital assets down the middle of property in divorce in these states. Of course, if there cannot be a decision made on the part of the divorced couple the judge can make the final decree.

In equitable distribution states everything the couple acquired in marriage is subject to division between spouses. Marriage means it does not matter who acquired this asset, the other is due half of it or half the value of it from the spouse that is granted the asset.

Not only are assets, all assets, split but so is debt. This means that both parties of the divorce are equally responsible for any debt incurred during marriage, no matter which one of the spouses applied for the debt.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christy O’Connor is the founder of Real-Estate-Yogi.com, a site that provides free phone consultations with attorneys and real estate experts. Get your consultation with a divorce lawyer now.
This article is free for republishing
Printed From: http://www.goinglegal.com/what-happens-to-my-property-in-divorce-2126888.html
Back to the original article

Tags: ups, several ways, profits, conclusion, many different ways, several factors, health, lawyers, ups and downs, assets, marriage, custodial parent, emotional time, divorce case, equitable distribution, divorce settlement, separate property