Dividing Marital Property – Divorce is never as simple as shaking hands and going your separate ways. Putting the emotional toll the process can have on everyone involved aside for a second, if you’ve been married for any length of time, you inevitably have to divide up all that marital property you’ve accumulated together. That includes everything from the house, cars, additional land, and even smaller personal belongings that hold sentimental value to both of you.
Dividing marital property is what we like to call the battle over what is yours and what is truly mine. And it’s a very testy subject. If you are headed toward divorce, you need a trusted advisor in your corner every step of the way, especially when it comes to working through property division.
Below are 9 blogs we’ve written on the matter, all of which provide practical answers so you can make informed decisions.
What’s The Difference Between Real And Personal Property?
When you search for the word “property” on the Internet, you’ll likely come across the terms real property and personal property. Understanding the differences between these two property types is important, especially when it comes time for the courts to place a value on, divide, and confirm each property type in a divorce.
Valuing Marital Property – Fair Market Vs. Intrinsic Value
Before a court can officially act on the division of marital property in any divorce case, a value must be placed on all spouses’ assets and liabilities. This article outlines the two measurements courts use to properly place a value on assets and liabilities: Fair Market Value and Intrinsic Value.
Dividing And Confirming – A Digestible Overview
When a court “divides” the spouses’ community property, it is essentially giving each spouse exclusive right of possession over a specific piece of property in the divorce decree. That would seem pretty straightforward. But first, the court must determine if the property should be classified as community, separate, or mixed.
What You Should Know About Separate Property
While separate property cannot legally be divested, the court hearing a particular divorce case cannot be prevented from selling the property, encumbering it, or setting the property aside for the support of a minor child.
Decision Time: 3 Ways A Court Divides Community Property
Once the court has placed a value on the property and determined if it is community, separate, or mixed, there are three common methods the court relies on to divide community property. They can partition the property in kind, award a money judgment, or partition property by sale. This blog goes into more detail on each of these options.
Property Division: How Does A Court Determine What Is Just And Right?
Texas is a community property state. Its courts must divide an estate based on what they feel is just and right. In other words, as fair a split as possible. That’s not always easy. Each marriage is different and dictates which factors should be considered in a divorce case. These factors are divided into four categories.
What Do We Mean By Community-Property State?
In the United States, marital property laws have evolved into two systems: the community-property system and the common-law system. Texas and eight other states use the community-property system.
What Your Role Is In Dividing And Confirming Marital Property
The court ultimately decides who gets what marital property when divorcing spouses cannot agree, but that is not to suggest each spouse is taken completely out of the equation. The court welcomes valid evidence or claims a spouse has that could affect division and confirmation.
Dividing Jointly-Owned Property After Divorce
Depending on the circumstances, former spouses can remain – or become – joint owners of a property after a final divorce decree has been rendered. If they choose not to remain cotenants, it is up to both parties to file what is called a postdissolution suit to partition community property.
Call Nelson Law Group today!!
It is imperative to have an experienced lawyer in your corner for anything family law related. Give our knowledgeable staff here at Nelson Law Group, PC a call if you have any further questions regarding this – or any other – issue.
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