You and your spouse shared everything, but now that you are facing the reality of divorce you may be left wondering how your possessions are going to be split. Everything from the sofa to your credit card debt needs to be divided properly after a marriage is dissolved, and with both sides often wanting the same things this can get a little messy. When going through a divorce, there are two types of property division: community property and equitable distribution. Community property is only recognized in certain states, but the principle is that community property is those items which both spouses owned equally. If both spouses owned the property equally, the principle goes that both spouses should split it equally as well. Equitable distribution on the other hand deems that all property is not distributed equally, but fairly. In these cases, a judge will determine what is fair regarding property distribution.

Before you get images in your head of people taking a chainsaw to their Hondas to split them in half, division of property should be clarified as a percentage division rather than an actual, physical division. Most cases involve a judge awarding a percentage to each spouse based on presented evidence. Each spouse may take up to their total awarded percentage. This may sound subjective, but that is because it often is. There is no objective or clean way of splitting up shared property. Separate property cannot be distributed though, that is one thing that is more objective in cases of equitable distribution. Separate property includes all property obtained by a spouse both before and during the marriage that is under their sole possession. Even this has the potential to get complicated however, because often spouses want to claim things as shared when they are actually separate, and vice versa.

Each case has specific factors that differentiate them from all others. For example, the health of each spouse can be taken into consideration. If one spouse is in poor health, they may be given a greater percentage of property to be collected. Courts will also consider what each spouse contributed to the marriage. The judge will look at what job each of the spouses possessed, how much work was allocated to each spouse and in the event that the ex-spouses have children, who carried the bulk of the responsibility with the children. You don't have to go to court to distribute assets. It is best to consider equitable distribution as a last result. You and your spouse may try to come to an agreement on your own. Even if that does not work, you can seek the help of a trusted divorce attorney to negotiate outside of court. Seeking legal counsel can make a tense issue seem less of a hassle.