Marital Assets That Are Tricky to Divide: Reward Points
Posted on May 9, 2014 9:35am PDT
If real estate, stocks, or prized collections are at stake in your divorce, you have probably given these assets considerable thought. But what about reward points? It makes sense to dispute costly assets such as art collections and antique guns, but surprisingly plenty of divorcing couples also wrangle over who ends up with assets such as air miles. It may seem strange, but especially for people who travel a great deal, the rewards can mean a great deal after having racked up a significant travel log, a prize to compensate them for miles of discomfort. But maybe air miles don't matter to you. Chances are, there are reward points of some kind that you would like to hold onto. What rules determine how these will get split up?
To find out, you have to actually read the terms and conditions listed for your rewards program. There's no pretending that this will make for a fun read, but you might find a clause (such as in Marriott's reward program) that points cannot be transferred in a divorce settlement. Sure, there's the chance in this case that you could get a court order that could bypass this, but it will be more worth your time to simply determine how much the points are worth, and to receive something else of equal worth in the divorce. Sometimes your program will tell you what the monetary value of the points are, otherwise you will have to calculate this yourself.
Finally, you might have the option of asking to divvy up the points into two new accounts, handling the division outside of the divorce negotiations, but this will almost certainly cost you in fees. These are costs that you and the other party should agree to split up in a fair manner.
When it comes to the difficult process of a divorce, you need to be prepared to handle the minutest of details, details which may actually have greater financial value than you at first expected. But you don't have to face this intense time alone. Whatever is at stake in your divorce, whatever process you are going through to get the divorce, you can find the legal advocate you need on our directory. Don't hesitate to call an experienced divorce attorney today!