Equitable Distribution
In order to divide marital property, you must first:
Identify the marital property:
Marital property includes all property acquired by both parties during the course of marriage, including any increase in value of non-marital property prior to the date of final separation. Some important exceptions are as follows:
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Property acquired before marriage or acquired in exchange for property acquired prior to marriage;
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Property excluded by a valid agreement (such as a prenuptial agreement) entered into before, during, or after the marriage;
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Property acquired by gift, except between spouses, including personal property and real property passed on through a will or handed down through the family;
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Property obtained after a final separation, except for property acquired in exchange for marital assets;
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Property sold or disposed of prior to final separation;
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Certain exempt veteran's benefits;
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Mortgaged property, but only up to the amount of the mortgage; and
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Money acquired from a lawsuit that started prior to marriage or after final separation regardless of when the money was received.
Value of the property:
If the parties cannot agree on the value of certain property, experts may be called upon to value the property. If the property involves a business or partnership interest, a qualified accounting professional should be called upon to value the business interest or stock shares. Likewise, when one or both of the parties have a pension, only the portion of the pension accrued during the marriage, and up until the date of final separation, is marital property and a qualified pension analyst should be called upon to determine its value.