What Happens When You and Your Spouse are Unable to Agree on Dividing Assets in a Divorce?

During a divorce parties must divide the assets and the liabilities accumulated during the course of their marriage. One of the first things they tend to divide is the personal property items. Parties typically divide this property based out of simple want and desire. But, often times they hit a roadblock, as there is inevitably an item that neither of them wants to give up. How are parties to resolve these conflicts when they reach this barrier? Parties who are agreeable with one another tend to approach these issues by engaging in a give and take type of negotiation. However, in the midst of the emotional split one party tends to concede on the item, due to simply wanting to resolve this issue and move forward. While an amicable split and division of personal property is ideal, this is typically not the normal set of circumstances. Thus, it is essential for parties entering into divorce to understand what the court will consider when they move forward with dividing your assets and liabilities in litigation.

If warring couples are not able to amicably spit their personal and real property they will find themselves at the mercy of the court that will take into consideration the following factors related to the items: the classification of the item as a martial or non-marital asset, the value of the item, items already distributed as a part of equitable distribution, if the liabilities that have been distributed, the contributions to the marriage by each spouse, the economic circumstances of the parties, the length of the marriage, any sacrifices that lead to the interruption of the career or educational pursuits of a spouse, the desirability of one spouse in maintaining the property, the contribution of each spouse to acquiring, enhancing or producing income of the assets, any intentional depletion of the asset, and any other factors that the court would think must be considered to do equitable justice to the parties. The statute governing the distribution of property is found in Florida Statutes 61.075.

Jacksonville Divorce Lawyers

If a party believes that the personal property in questions should not even be subjected to the equitable distribution scheme they will need to prove that the property in question is non-marital property. Generally non-marital property is property obtained prior to the marriage, for which marital money was not used for the enhancement or purchase of the item, and it was not later gifted to the marriage.

If you’re in the midst of a Jacksonville divorce and you are unable to divide the personal property of the marriage with your spouse, you may benefit from the intervention of the courts. At Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. we work to protect your ownership interests.