Are you going through a divorce? Are you worried about losing your property and assets? Do you want to put yourself in the best possible position regarding asset and debt division?
There is no denying the fact that property division can be a contentious issues during the divorce process. While you have one idea of what should happen, your soon to be ex-spouse may have another.
Develop a comprehensive property division checklist
Issues involving assets and debt division are usually resolved through negotiation, but sometimes a dispute over these issues must be resolved through litigation. In either case, there are things you can do before then to put yourself in position to succeed. Most importantly, you need to create a comprehensive property division checklist.
As the name implies, this is nothing more than a list of the many assets that require division. You can break this down into four distinct categories:
- Personal property — These are items you typically keep in your home, including motor vehicles, furniture, electronics, collectibles, guns, clothing and home office equipment.
- Real property — In addition to the family home, this can include rental properties, business property, a vacation home and undeveloped land.
- Financial assets — Common financial assets include bank accounts, cash on hand, retirement accounts, pensions, life insurance cash value, stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
- Business assets — These can include an ownership interest in a corporation, partnership, limited liability corporation of sole proprietorship. A professional degree also falls into this category.
Along with a property division checklist, make a list of the many debts that you share with the other individual. This can include but is not limited to credit cards, personal loans, student loans, car loans and mortgage. Debt division is every bit as important as asset division.
With so much to consider during a divorce, you could easily lose sight of what’s most important in regard to property division. Fortunately, with the help of a checklist, you’ll always have something on your side to keep you in line.
When you combine a property division checklist with the skills of an experienced divorce lawyer, your chances of getting a satisfactory property settlement improve to a considerable degree.