Nobody gets married and expects to part ways later. Because of this, they do not give much thought to who gets what property in the marriage when they decide to divorce in the future. If the prospect of separation starts to loom, sorting out property division issues can be frustrating and overwhelming. If you are in this situation, you need to learn about the legal principles used by the court to divide marital property during a divorce. A charlotte family law attorney can help educate you in this matter.
How Marital Property is Divided in North Carolina
North Carolina is an equitable distribution state. In this process, the court tries to divide the assets of a divorcing couple fairly in light of their current situations. Having an experienced attorney to advocate for you can change the outcome of your property division case.
The property division process can take some time because the court needs to identify all of the property you and your spouse own. Also, the court must classify every property into one of the three categories and evaluate the value of the property before dividing it. These categories include the following:
- Marital property. This includes properties that a couple acquired during the marriage.
- Separate property. This category is composed of any property owned by either spouse before the marriage and property that a spouse acquired during the marriage by gift or inheritance from a third party.
- Divisible property. This includes the value changes of any marital assets or debts after the date of separation and income from marital property that either spouse gets after separation.
The Process of Diving Property in Charlotte, North Carolina
When the court classifies all property into one of the three categories, it will then value and divide the property. The court presumes that an equal split between the parties is fair and lets either party submit evidence to rebut this assertion. The court considers different factors when deciding whether to change the standard fifty-fifty split when dividing property. These factors include every spouse’s income, property, and debts, the length of the marriage, pension and retirement benefits expectations, the need of a parent who has custody of a child to own, live, and use the marital home, and others.
An experienced family law attorney knows that divorce is hard on everyone involved. This is the reason they approach every family law case with compassion. They work out solutions that serve the best interests of their clients and resolve cases efficiently.