What Are Marital Assets?
Most of the property that you or your spouse obtained or earned during your marriage is marital property. It does not matter whose name is the title or the deed. They are still marital property unless it was a gift or an inheritance. A marital property is the property of both of you. The marital property is divided upon your divorce. Things that are not marital property are called separate property.
Role of Property Division Attorney in Marital Property Division
If you and your spouse cannot agree on how to divide your property, the property division attorney will help you in this. Law requires property division attorneys to divide property fairly. In general, “fair” means that each person receives about half of everything. But, in some cases, a judge may decide that it is fair to divide the marital property in another way.
Your assets may be divided unevenly if one person is more at fault in the divorce or if one person needs more assets. Sometimes a person receives more marital property but is also responsible for more of the marital debts.
Each of the spouses is responsible for their share of the matrimonial debts. In general, this means that each person has to pay about half of the total debts. In some cases, a property division attorney may decide that it is fair to divide the debts in another way.
Debts can be divided in another way in these situations:
- A person is more at fault in the divorce,
- One person can pay more, or
- A person is liable for incurring debts without the consent of the other spouse for a purpose that did not benefit the household (for example: a spouse’s gambling debts)
Sometimes a spouse has to pay more debts and in return receives more assets.
What Are Separate Assets?
If a spouse has assets before the marriage, they are separate assets. If a spouse inherits, or is gifted, property during the marriage, it is separate property. If a spouse has separate property and it increases in value on its own, the increase in value is separate property.
For example, a wife owns a rental home before she is married. Neither she nor her husband makes any arrangements at home during the marriage. If the value of the home increases, the increase is a separate asset.
In general, the spouses keep their separate assets in a divorce case. However, separate property can be divided in certain situations (read below).
When Separate Property Becomes Matrimonial Property
Separate property is generally given to the spouse who originally owns it. However, you can divide separate assets if:
- The other spouse helps with the obtaining, improvement or expansion of the property; or
- The other spouse’s share of the marital property is not enough to meet that spouse’s needs.
For example, your spouse owned a home before your marriage. During the marriage, you made arrangements in the home that increased the property’s value. You may be entitled to part of the property’s value, or at least part of the increase in value.
Separate property can also be converted to matrimonial property if it is used regularly for matrimonial purposes or if it is put into a joint bank account.
Examples:
- If you transferred inherited money to a bank account with your spouse, that money became marital property;
- He used to use money that his parents gave him to pay the mortgage on a marital home, that gift became marital property.
Transfer of Title After Dividing the Assets
Your property division attorney of divorce will say what each person will keep. However, they may still have to transfer titles or deeds.
Cars and mobile homes are types of property that have titles. Neither your Judgment of Divorce nor the property division attorney will transfer the title to a car. If you need to transfer the title, you and your spouse must sign and submit the required documents.
Your judgment of divorce will tell each of you to fill out the necessary documents to transfer the assets. If either does not, the other spouse can file a motion to ask the property division attorney to enforce their Judgment of Divorce.
In general, the debt stays with the goods
The person who receives an asset is generally liable for the debt related to that asset. Sometimes only one person can pay the debt related to the good, and then they keep that good.
Creditors don’t have to respect your property division
The judge assigned to your divorce case has no authority over your creditors. Creditors are the people to whom you owe money. Your Judgment of Divorce can assign each debt to you or your spouse. However, creditors can still treat debts in their name as joint debts.
It is important that all debts in your name are included in your Judgment of Divorce. That way, if the person responsible for paying the debt doesn’t, the other spouse can ask the judge to enforce the order. If you end up paying a debt assigned to your spouse, you can file a motion to ask the court to order your spouse to repay you for the money you paid.
You & Your Spouse Can Agree Without the Court
Property division attorneys, mediation, and hearings are expensive ways to divide your assets and debts. If your assets and debts are easy to understand, you and your spouse can try to make your own asset agreement. This will help reduce the cost of the divorce.
If you and your spouse can negotiate together safely, sit down, make a list of all your assets and debts, and agree on how to divide them. The judge will review your agreement to verify that it is fair, but will generally approve it if both of you agree.
You may want to speak to a property division attorney if you cannot negotiate safely or if your assets and debts are complicated. If you need a property division attorney and are low- income, you may be eligible for free legal help.
You and Your Spouse Can Agree to Mediation
Mediation is a process in which a neutral person helps you and your spouse resolve issues that you and your spouse disagree with. Mediation can help you reach an agreement about the division of assets and debts and other issues. It is an alternative to going to court and letting a judge decide what will happen.
Hope this article on TodayPosting helps you to know about marital property division after divorce. Hire a property division attorney.
