Being open, honest, and cooperative
about the marital assets and liabilities makes this part of the divorce go more smoothly.
What type of specific information
about marital assets should I obtain before I file for divorce?
Not exact matches
Most of the information will relate to your family's finances — what you and your spouse own and owe (your
marital assets and debts), your individual incomes, your projected monthly post-divorce budgets, etc. — but the lawyers will talk to potential witnesses and may also gather information
about your individual parenting skills, health status, lifestyles, and so on.
If you have questions
about pension division, 401 (k) division or any other aspect of
marital asset division, talk with our seasoned divorce attorneys at Magner, Hueneke & Borda, LLP.
It is usually much less important than the fight over the
marital assets as a whole, so thinking strategically
about what challenges to make or not make is important.
Couples can also make decisions
about how their joint or
marital property,
assets, and income will be treated during the marriage and in the event of a divorce; they can also set limits on alimony (spousal support).
Absent a
marital agreement, the decisions
about couple's
assets will be dictated by state laws and precedent cases that don't necessarily serve the couple's best interests.
If you have no children and few
marital assets, or you've pounded out an agreement with your spouse
about how to divide things up, it's time to jump into the court process.
To speak to an experienced family law attorney
about divorce and / or the division of your
marital assets and debts, email us at
[email protected], call (818) 348-6700, or fill out a case evaluation form.
Are you concerned
about sharing
marital assets with a cheating spouse?
The mandatory financial disclosure requires both spouses to produce information
about: individual and
marital assets and individual and
marital debts; income, such as income from wages, self - employment, and passive investments, and expenses.
The key to uncontested divorce is that both spouses must be in agreement
about the terms and conditions of the divorce, including child custody and visitation; child support, health and dental insurance, and medical expenses for the children; tax deductions and exemptions; division of the
marital assets and debts; alimony; any other dispute involving the marriage; and lastly, the grounds for the divorce.
A divorce is uncontested if both spouses agree to the divorce and are in complete agreement
about dividing the
marital property (which includes
assets and debts), the custody and support for any children, and whether one spouse pays alimony to the other.
Courts now view the marriage as an economic unit, and in general courts are more concerned
about economic misconduct — such as the dissipation of
marital assets — than they are
about marital misconduct — such as infidelity.
However, if you and your spouse disagree
about important aspects of your divorce like child support or the division of the
marital assets, it may take longer than 60 days to resolve these issues.
Adults and children face a host of unfamiliar situations, including: • Ineffective negotiations on child custody,
marital assets, etc.; • Transitions to separate households and juggling the work - life balance; • Increased stress and the consequential emotional / physical issues; • Uncertainty
about investments and wealth after the split.
Even though it's called a Property Settlement Agreement, this agreement covers much more than the division of property or equitable distribution of property — it's also
about child custody, parenting time, division of
assets (including personal property, real estate such as the
marital home, retirement
assets and pensions, and businesses), alimony, and any other additional issues that must be determined in furtherance of divorce or dissolution of marriage.
Similarly, while Tennessee's property division statute requires that
marital property be divided «fairly and equitably,» Collaborative Divorce allows the parties also to run particular settlement ideas through the filter of a neutral financial expert, who may have ideas
about how to divide the estate in a way that is legally fair and equitable, but that also minimizes tax liability or maximizes growth on retirement
assets, for example.
Partners may come to a mutual agreement
about what's fair or may rely on the court's help in splitting the
marital assets fairly.
Since Washington is a community property state with specific rules
about the division of
assets acquired by either partner during a marriage, dividing up your
marital property (including debts) will also be required as a part of that process, just like in a divorce.