October, 2004

1 for you, 1 for me .......

I was cleaning up my website where I put these legal articles in cyber storage and realized I haven’t written one on property division yet.  How does the judge decide who gets what in a divorce?  Basically the court throws all your property into a giant pot, regardless of which party owns it or where it came from, and then makes and “equitable” distribution based on the circumstances. 

So what if you just inherited $1,000,000 from your dear old Aunt Agnes the week before your spouse left you?  Throw it in the pot.  And what about the $30,000.00 in bonds you have been saving since you were a child?  Yep, toss it in.  It all gets considered.  Now that doesn’t mean it all gets divided 50/50.  Only that it gets considered.  Don’t forget, the property is to be divided “equitably” not “equally.”

So what is “equitable?”  There is a list of factors the court considers when determining property division.  They include:

1.how long the parties were married;

2.their respective age, health, income, employability, etc;

3.the conduct of the parties during the marriage;

4.the contributions one or both may have made as homemaker; and

5.where the property came from and who can you thank for it still being available to divide in the first place.

The big question is, how much weight does the court put on each of these factors?  If he cheated on you does that mean you get the Lexus and he gets the Escort?  Or should his 8th grade education compared to your medical degree be more determinative?  What gets how much weight is within the judge’s discretion and you will probably disagree with him.  Most people think the judge should see what a lying *&^%$#@*&^% your X2B is and just give you everything. 

In the end?  It usually gets divvied up 50/50.