Splitting marital assets is sometimes just as challenging as splitting the family itself. In many cases, both spouses have both financial and emotional connections to the boat, RV, vehicles, and other toys.
The divorce distribution laws in most states designate that your assets are equitably split between the spouses, but it can be challenging to determine the value and who should retain ownership. These are some things you should consider.
Identifying marital assets
If you purchased an asset before you got married, the courts consider it separate from your marital property. These items you own legally. However, if you and your spouse purchased an RV or ATV during the marriage, this is a marital asset and is subject to equitable distribution. Marital property includes everything you purchased during your marriage.
Determining value
Equitable distribution looks at value, not the asset itself. Therefore, you need to determine the value of your marital property. Find the market value for any vehicles, equipment or toys. You may feel emotionally attached to an item, but this does not increase or decrease its monetary worth. Use only the item’s financial value during your negotiations.
Choosing what to sell
If you cannot agree on the distribution of specific items, consider selling them and dividing the cash. However, avoid selling items that have high emotional value but low monetary worth.
If you have a strong emotional connection to specific items, you could offer to pay your partner half of their value. For example, you may want to keep your boat, which is worth $5,000, so you can offer your spouse $2,500 for full ownership.
One of the worst things you can do during asset division negotiations is to become emotional. To get the best distribution, keep your head and prepare for challenges.
