"The Impossible--Agreeing in Divorce"

You thought agreeing while married was hard, how about in the midst of divorce when anything you discuss with your ex-spouse can never be agreed upon? There are several aspects of divorce that have to be agreed on, but a major part of it is ownership of property and debts. Who gets what when this is all over and done with? It's common for a couple to take it into their own hands, but if they can't come up with an agreement they take it to court and the judge will be the deciding factor.

There are two ways ways in which court chooses to divide up property: equitable distribution or community property. Equitable division are assets and earnings are divided fairly between the two. Often two-thirds of the assets go to the higher wage earner and one-third to the other spouse. Community property is when the entire property is owned equally or just by one spouse. Usually, the property is divided evenly, while each spouse keeps their own separate property.

Here are some rules to distinguish between community property and non-community property: community property includes all earnings during marriage and everything acquired with those earnings. State property of one spouse deals with gifts and inheritances given just to that spouse, personal injury awards received by that spouse, and the proceeds of a pension that vested before marriage. Property purchased with a combination of separate and community funds is part community and part separate property, so long as a spouse is able to show that some separate funds were used. Seperate property mixed with community property generally becomes community property.

Personally, I am not experiencing any of this right now and I hope it doesn't come to that. Decision making for the two of them isn't the easiest. Let's hope that agreeing after the divorce will be easier then during marriage!

Images fare rom flikr.