Divorce is a word that elicits many negative feelings, it refers to the end of a union and the dismantling of a family. It also brings about fear and anticipation from the process itself. Divorce involves many mixed emotions that no one person can handle on their own as well as another mixture of long legal procedures that everyone dreads. One of the main questions asked during a divorce is whether assets are split equally, and we’re here to answer that question.
Types of Assets In A Divorce
Before you start asking about whether assets will be split equally in a divorce, you need to know the different types of assets according to a court of law. In the USA, there are nine states that follow the community property system in which any property owned by a married person is considered a joint asset. However, Raleigh, North Carolina, is an equitable distribution state, which means the court will split assets into three types; marital property, divisible property, and separate property.
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Marital & Divisible Property
Marital property is defined by anything that either or both partners purchased after the date of their official marriage yet the day before the separation. It includes things like their incomes, the house, and any other properties, items inside the house, cars, bank accounts, stocks, loans, mortgages, and gifts. Two distinct facts about marital property are that the house doesn’t always fall under it, and it includes any debts on either spouse.
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Separate Property
Separate property refers to anything that was owned by either spouse prior to marriage as well as any inheritance received. This kind of property does not entail an equitable distribution and remains owned by the original party. However, separate property can become marital in certain unique cases like changing a separate property title to both spouses’ names after their marriage, even if it was owned prior to it.
How Assets Are Divided
So now that you know all about the types of assets, the next reasonable question is how they are divided. The answer falls into several factors that are taken into consideration by the court. These factors include the duration of the marriage, age of both parties, custody of children, each person’s income, properties, and other financial sources, financial needs and responsibilities on each party, the lifestyle of the family prior to separation, physical and mental disabilities, and any other contributions made by both parties for the well-being of the family. These factors help the court decide the fair division of assets, which might not entail total equality.
Division of Pensions and Retirement Benefits
One of the hardest things to split between spouses in a divorce is pensions and retirement benefits. If we take the specific laws in North Carolina for instance, it has its own way of division of pensions and properties in general. It requires hiring only the best division of property attorney in Raleigh that knows their way around the specifics of state law. For pensions, they can be divided in two ways; either the court sets the current value of the pension, gives it to the employee party, and requires them to compensate the other party for the pension value. The second way is known as the Deferred Distribution method and it’s where the court signs a Qualified Domestic Relations Order which will entail that part of the benefits must be paid by the employee party while the remaining amount goes to the non-working party.
What Can The Court Order?
There are a few things that the court has the power to order in a case of division of property during a divorce. For example, it can order one spouse to pay the other a lump sum instead of things like spousal maintenance or property interest. The court can also order selling or transferring a property, mostly the marital house, and determine how its value will be divided on each party. Pension sharing is another thing the court can order where one spouse is required to transfer a percentage of their pension to the other spouse.
So to answer the question posed in this article, no, assets aren’t always split equally between spouses in a divorce, yet it is always divided fairly. Equality does not always mean fair, and the court taking into consideration certain factors that have a huge effect on splitting assets is the epitome of fairness. At the end of the day, you should try to go through this process as amicably and smoothly as you can for the sake of your family. It prevents dragging on the process and making it even more painful for both parties.
