Love is not all about money or properties when it was first felt by the couples and that led them to faithfully tie the knot with sincere vows not to leave each other in sickness and in health, but when the relationship comes to an end, both the asset and debt becomes one major concern that is usually settled in court. It is not uncommon as there have already been many wives and husbands who have went through this process for their own and their children’s welfare. This is apparently not about fixing the broken pieces of the once unbreakable love as the prime purpose of which is to divide the property and give the couples their own dues in amicable means. Anyhow, to better understand this case, these are some facts about the laws governing the division of properties after divorce:
Who Owns the Marital Property?
This is also known as the community property acquired by the couples together, and it becomes an issue when one of the parties or both seek for just division of such. But it is not something to be disputed when the one decides to leave everything to the spouse; nevertheless, if one seeks for division, the property may be divided among several legal beneficiaries.
System of Property Ownership
There is a “common law” that is being followed in most states to settle matters relative to the division of property. The common basis is the name of the party appearing on the documents such as title to determine to whom it belongs and the owner has the right to choose beneficiaries for the said asset but is subject to the spouse’s right to claim for a share in case of the donor’s death. However, if both of your names appear on the paper, each of you own half of that certain property and have freedom to whom you should leave such. But it should be noted that if you own the property in “joint tenancy” with the right to survivorship, the property belongs to the surviving spouse in case the other dies; however, the rule varies depending on the conditions agreed upon by the couples.
Community Property and Separate Property
These are two types of properties that the spouses can divide or fight for depending on the circumstances of the case. Specifically, the community property includes the money earned during marriage, property purchased during marriage, and separate asset that subsequently became mixed that it cannot already be identified with the other type. On the other hand, the separate property comprises the property owned by a spouse before marriage, property given to one spouse only, and property inherited just by one spouse.
Rules with a Written Agreement
It is noteworthy that married couples are not required to accept the rules relative to community property given that they can simply sign a written agreement to make some or the entire community property the separate property of a spouse or vice versa. Meanwhile, there are instances where some community properties can avoid probate especially in states that has community property with right of survivorship. For instance, when a couple has the title of the property when the other dies, the property will automatically belong to him or her without going through probate court proceedings.
Indeed, what is at stake in a divorce case is not just the love of couples that is strongly built for longer time, but also the properties that are acquired throughout the years.
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