While a couple finds it’s easy to divorce, it becomes challenging when they want to divide whatever they have acquired together. The division of assets can be a stressful task, especially when your divorce is contested. However, it can be easy if both of you agree on how you can divide the most contested assets. If you find you’re having trouble, you can consider hiring a divorce lawyer in Chula Vista to help you with the tedious task and keep the process seamless.
Distinguishing Between Community Property And Separate Property
When a couple decides to divorce, each wants to remain with the property they struggled to get, which could be more than the other spouse. This is not how things work in California. The reason being, California is a community property state. As such, a couple equally owns all the money they have irrespective of who earned more. Assets can be divided into:
- Community property: This may include all earnings such as real or personal properties, incomes, savings account, or retirement benefits acquired in the course of the marriage.
- Separate property: This is property owned by any of the partners before marriage, which may not be considered as community property. This includes inheritance or any benefits received by a spouse during the marriage or after separation. For instance, compensation from civil law
If perhaps there was property you had purchased with a combination of community and separate funds (Commingling), you need to show that indeed some separate funds were used. Otherwise, the property purchased will be deemed to be community property. This sometimes is very difficult to separate unless you have some legal help.
How You Can Work Together To Come To An Agreement
The cost of making mistakes during divorce can be high. That’s why one needs some advice from a divorce lawyer to help you have a smooth division of properties. When getting divorced, the court will determine how your assets will be divided among you. This is regardless of whether you made an informal agreement about the division. This means that a judge has to sign off to ensure the agreement is legally binding. If you want to make things easier, you can follow the below steps:
- Prepare a list of the assets owned.
- Figure out which property is separately owned. Your property should remain in your possession. If there is any disagreement, the spouse who claims to own the property has to prove to the judge that he/she owned it separately.
- Ensure to get the fair market value of the property. Doing this ensures you value your property.
- Make a settlement agreement. After you have agreed on how your assets will be divided, you can draft a settlement agreement. But before signing it, you should consider getting a divorce lawyer to review your agreement.
According to the law, a spouse should disclose all his/her financial declarations. The best thing one can do to ease any trouble that may arise is, to be honest and open. Should you have concerns about the division of your assets, don’t hesitate to speak to your divorce lawyer.