Getting Divorced

When getting divorced, divvying up marital assets and debts can be complicated.  How you and your spouse will divide your marital assets may depend on a wide array of legal and financial factors.  Laws vary vastly from state to state. And within each state, your particular situation may be subject to many different applications of case law.  

Because the outcome of your divorce will most likely be final, it’s vitally important that you understand as much as possible to achieve results you can live with for a lifetime.  A specially trained financial professional, such as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), can help you navigate the process.

  Before your case reaches the courts, your CDFA can help you attempt to reach an agreement with your spouse concerning who will get which marital assets.  Otherwise, assets will be divided strictly according to the court’s guidelines.

Getting Divorced – Separating Assets

You should know in advance that separate assets (those things you owned prior to the marriage) are generally considered apart from marital property (those things acquired while married).  However, the value that those separate assets have grown during the marriage may be considered marital property in some states and may be divided accordingly.

Getting Divorced – Marital versus Separate Property

Additionally, individual case laws (even within the same state) look at the marital versus separate property in completely different ways and divide them differently as well. The division of assets can have an entirely different outcome depending on which case law is applied.

Getting Divorced – Decisions

Keep in mind, divvying up assets and debts can be an emotional and complicated aspect of getting divorced.  Decisions you make during the process of getting divorced typically cannot be reversed, so it is of critical importance that you educate yourself about the complex course ahead and hire the most qualified trained professionals to assist you.

Getting Divorced