Dividing Property in a Divorce
Because California is a community property state, married couples are considered a single entity for property ownership purposes. This means that any assets or property acquired or earned by either spouse during the marriage will be considered community property, meaning it is owned by both parties. Additionally, any debt incurred by either spouse during the marriage is considered community property. The community property rules apply even if the couple resided in a state that doesn’t follow them at any time during their marriage.
If you have any property or assets you already owned before getting married, or if you were given an inheritance or gift during the marriage, these will be considered separate property, which only you own. Additionally, any purchases made using separate property are also considered separate property. For example, if you received $20,000 from your mother’s estate and used the money to purchase a vehicle, the vehicle will be considered separate property.
Once you have sorted out what’s separate property and what’s community property, you must figure out how to distribute the community property amongst yourselves. You and your spouse can create your own agreement if possible, or seek help from a mediator. If you still can’t agree on how to distribute the community property, it will be up to the judge to decide on the matter. You and your spouse must abide by the decision of the judge.
You will need to assign monetary values to your assets and properties for the purpose of distributing them between you and your spouse. Accurate appraisals are especially necessary for real estate and costly items, such as antiques, jewelry, or art. This also applies when assessing the value of retirement assets, such as annuities or 401(k) accounts. The following are basic options for splitting up property:
- Sell everything and divide the proceeds.
- Determine which properties each spouse should have.
- Have one spouse buy out the other spouse. For example, if you want to stay in and keep the family home, you can give half of the house’s value to your spouse.
Another common option is to retain joint ownership of certain property. For example, you can retain joint ownership of the family home if you have kids, even if only one of you will be physically living in the house with the kids.
