Today, there are many divorce cases that come due to issues in marriages. One of the ugly faces of divorce arises when it comes to division of joint property that has been accumulated over the years in marriage. To ensure an amicable division, the following suggestions can be of help:
1. Make a detailed list together – for all the assets that need to be divided prior to the divorce proceedings. The list should include all joint property like the home, vehicles, bank accounts, financial instruments such as bonds and stocks among others.
2. Be civil as much as possible – This will cut down on the time spent on the whole process and cuts on costs too. Cases without much strife are settled quickly and simply. Where there is disagreement, there is a lot of red tape that has to be followed: get divorce mediators, take depositions to verify ownership, have formal disclosures that can take a long time and inadvertently slow down the whole divorce.
3. Dividing between a house and a car – Who gets to keep the family home is usually a thorny issue and most judges give it to the parent with the primary custody of the children. Vehicles are also a flash point of dispute; it does not automatically go to the holder of the sole title. The vehicle is usually assessed on the strength of its value, then it can be sold and the proceeds split or by mutual consent between the two who gets to keep it. The same applies to expensive household items.
4. Retirement benefits and businesses owned by family – Retirement benefits are considered marital property under the law and the other spouse is entitled to some of it. The counsel of an attorney may be needed if a retirement plan is involved so that a qualified domestic relations document will help in letting you know who gets what from the plan. Family businesses tend to be complicated. The value of the business needs to be ascertained, both as an ongoing and in the future. Those businesses owned by the spouses only are easily divisible without much dispute. However, where there are more family relations involved, it may be wise to find out relative quotations from various business brokers before settling on the best way to split the business or sell out to other parties whilst getting your fair share. The payments can be made over a specified duration of time.
5. If there are many businesses – Division can be along keeping entities by specific spouses instead of selling off.