In a divorce, the personal property (vehicles,
retirement accounts, furniture, businesses, etc.) owned by the parties
is divided. Most states are community property states, although
it can be called differently in some states. Basically, the property
of the marriage are split equally.
There is also debts of the marriage. In the same way, the debts will
also be split equally.
In most situations, the parties will be able to agree on how to split the
assets and debts of the marriage. Many times, the parties will have
been separated for many years, and the property and debts are already split.
In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a
Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the
property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital
Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the
Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to
divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is
maintained. You are not required to list all of your property and
debts that you are dividing, as long as you agree, although items such as
vehicles and homes are listed.
If you have any changes to how you and your spouse will split your property
and/or debts in the divorce after we have prepared your documents for you,
you can simply email or call us with the changes, and we will revise your
documents for you at no charge. There is never a charge for revisions
to your documents at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.