Whats the process for handling property and debt in a divorce or dissolution?
There is a 3-step process: • identify the marital property and debt • value the marital property and debt • divide the marital property and debt. What does “identify the marital property and debt” mean? You must distinguish marital property/debt from separate property/debt. Marital property/debt will be divided between you and your spouse as part of the divorce; separate property/debt will not be divided. The general rule is that marital property and debt is any property or debt acquired during the marriage for the benefit of the marriage. However, just because a party acquired property before marriage does not necessarily mean that it won’t be considered marital property. A spouse’s premarital separate property can become marital when a married couple demonstrates an intent, through their words or actions during marriage, to treat one spouse’s separate property as marital property. Gifts and inheritances are generally separate property, although gifts for the benefit of the marriage,
