The Do’s and Don’ts of Managing Your Marital Property in a Divorce
Posted on Jun 5, 2013 4:31pm PDT
Going through a divorce can be a complicating process, and one of those in particular is going to be dividing your property. While the average television show often depicts divorce as a devastating process that is aggravating and painful, there are a large majority of couples who can get through an amicable divorce. A peaceful divorce will make for much less stress, as well as overall better communication with your soon-to-be ex-spouse over matters of the property division as well as child custody, spousal support, and the like. If it is at all possible for you and your spouse to work through this process calmly, you will both be Better off in the long run. This is not always the case however, and for some spouses you may not be able to reach a settlement with your attorney or through mediation, and you may need to pursue litigation to have the matters sorted out. Whatever the case may be, hiring a trusted and experienced family and divorce attorney is absolutely crucial to protecting your rights through the process, whether or not your divorce is peaceful or contentions.
In order to help with the process of your divorce, here are a few helpful tips of "do's and don'ts" during your divorce when looking at dividing your property. First, we will look at some help tips that you want to DO. First off, if you are not yet married, consider establishing a premarital agreement or prenuptial contract with your future spouse. This will help each of you lay out the property and what will happen to it in the event of a future divorce. Also, you want to make sure that during your marriage you keep detailed documents of your property and what is separate and marital property. This includes gifts, inheritance, or anything else received during your marriage. In the event that you decide you want to purpose non-marital property, make sure you use the finds of your current non-marital property to do so, or you risk the possibility of it becoming mixed with your marital assets. Another aspect of non-marital property that you may not be aware of is the fact that when your non-marital property increases in value, this may actually be considered by the court as marital property (the increase of value, not the entire property).
Now, here are a few DON'TS you want to be mindful of in regards to martial property and division. If you and your spouse are dealing with debt, be wary of using your non-marital assets today of the debt you owe as a married couple. This can affect the value and standing of the non-marital property. If you and your spouse want to have a joint bank account, be certain to keep your non-marital funds out of these accounts. Once you decide to share this, it becomes marital property, whether or not your spouse was the one to receive the hard earned money. Lastly, for those of you who are business owners, make sure you don't assume that your personal business is still considered to be non-martial, even if you owned it prior to your marriage. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into account when it comes to your business during a divorce, which is why a lawyer is so essential.
Don't think that you have to be rich or own a business to need a divorce lawyer. Anyone who wants to have a fair divorce and be able to fight for what they believe is rightfully theirs in a split, should hire an attorney for their divorce. Even if you want a simple and amicable divorce, having a legal professional to merely guide you through the contracts and documents is for your benefit. Please use our site to locate a trusted divorce attorney near you who can help you with whatever your divorce or family legal needs may be!