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How do you begin to work it out without a legal staff? The first step is, again, a detailed list of the elements you will need to work through. |
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Your master list must seek to include all the assets you have accumulated during the course of your marriage. Include the date the asset was acquired (if you can't remember but you know it was acquired during the marriage, that's good enough). Make sure to note the cost (if you can recall) and what you think it's worth now. Also note to whom it belongsyou, your spouse, or both. Remember, even if one spouse bought it, if it was bought during the marriage, from a marital viewpoint, it probably belongs to both of you, unless it was acquired with funds that are not joint property. |
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Next, you must divide those assets whose ownership is relatively clear-cut. Generally, the easiest thing to divide is the cash. Before you try to divide savings, figure out what will be needed to run the house for the next several months and set aside any sums needed beyond that which comes from income. For example, if one of you is going to move out, money will be needed for the move. If you plan to maintain two homes rather than one, extra cash will be required there. After you've accounted for this type of expense, you should be able to divide the remaining cash 50-50. |
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Life's Little Comforts: Distributing the Furniture and the Cars |
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In the wake of divorce, many people like to start from scratch and leave the furniture. Our friend Lisa, for instance, did not take a single sheet or towel from the family home following her divorce. Her sudden liberation signaled, for her, a chance to reinvent herself. All her new possessions, in the context of her new life, became symbols of her personal growth as well as her release from marital pain. |
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Yet for others, the possessions accumulated during a lifetime represent luxury and comfortassociation with a former spouse presents no problem at all. Fortunately, for those who are amicable, dividing the furniture and cars should present little problem. Just set values for your belongings, and then divide them according to value. If one item, say the car, is worth more than all the furniture, the spouse who keeps the car will have to pay the difference. |
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