How Property And Debt Are Divided During A Divorce

Divorce is never a single, hassle-free procedure but a group of steps that need to be taken in an orderly manner. Most importantly, if you do not have a dedicated divorce lawyer by your side, you can end up losing most of your property and children very easily.

For instance, if you are a resident of San Diego and wish to get a divorce, consulting just any family lawyer in San Diego would not help. You need a dedicated and experienced divorce attorney for the cause.

And while people consult such professionals, they have a common question in mind- how will the property and debt be divided in my case?

Here are some of the ways in which the property and debt are divided:

The Types Of Properties:

• Community Property: It includes all the incomes while being married and all that is acquired with the income. It even includes mostly all the debts, unless there are some special conditions.
• Separate Property: It is the personal property of a spouse, including the gifts and inheritances received by a single person. It may even include the pension etc. offered before the marriage and personal injury award etc.
• Joint Property: The property purchased with the combined community and separate funds is a joint property. It may be treated as a full community property unless a spouse has definite proofs of using some separate funds for it.

How Is The Property Divided?

Mostly, the courts will offer a chance to the couple to divide the property between them and come up with a written mutual agreement. They can even get a lawyer’s assistance for this.

For instance, you can get a dedicated property division attorney in San Diego if you face any such circumstances.

But if the couple is not able to come up with a conclusion, the court may consider the following judgment methods:

• Community Distribution: In states such as Alaska, California, Texas and New Mexico etc. the property of couple is classified as either community or separate. The community property is mostly divided equally while the separate property goes to the one who owns it.
• Equitable Distribution: In most of the states, the entire earnings and assets may be divided fairly, but not necessarily equally. In this, the judge may even use the separate property for a fair settlement.

The House You Reside In:

You may also wish to know about who gets your marital house.

As per the regulations, if you have children, the house goes to the partner who takes maximum care of them. The other partner may just be a visitor.

If the couple does not have children and it’s a private property, it would generally go to the one who purchased it.

Also, if you do not have children and it’s a joint property, it’s the court which decides who actually gets to reside in the marital house after the divorce.

We are leading family law attorney in San Diego and our firm specializes in Divorce, Child Support, Mediation, property division etc.