Divorce Frequently Asked Questions
- What factors does the court consider when distributing marital property?
- What is separate property?
- What factors does the court consider in ordering alimony?
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What factors does the court consider when distributing marital property?
The court divides all property, except inherited property or gifts either of you received, equitably (fair, not necessarily equal) and considers the following:
- Length of the marriage
- Property each spouse brings to the marriage
- Contribution of each party to the marriage, giving appropriate economic value to each party’s contribution in homemaking and child care services
- Age and physical and emotional health of the parties
- Contribution by one party to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other party
- Earning capacity of each party, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, length of absence from the job market, custodial responsibilities for children, and the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party to become self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage
- Desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live in the home for a reasonable period of time to the party having custody and/or physical care of the children
- Amount and duration of an order granting support payments, and whether property division should be in lieu of support payments
- Each spouse's economic circumstances, including pension benefits and future interests in certain circumstances
- Tax consequences of the distribution
- Any written agreement made by the parties concerning property distribution
- Provisions of any antenuptial agreement
What is separate property?
When a marriage is dissolved, each party is entitled to retain property that was inherited by that party or received as a gift prior to or during the course of the marriage. However, this is not a hard and fast rule, and under certain circumstances, the court may find that separate property of one spouse is divisible if it finds that a refusal to divide the property is inequitable to the other party or to the children of the marriage.
What factors does the court consider in ordering alimony?
In deciding whether to order alimony or maintenance, a court considers:
- Length of the marriage
- Age and physical and emotional health of the parties
- Property distribution
- Each spouse's education level at the time of marriage and at the time of the commencement of the divorce action
- Earning capacity of the spouse seeking maintenance, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, length of absence from the job market, responsibilities for children, and time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party to find appropriate employment
- Feasibility of the spouse seeking maintenance to become self-supporting at a standard of living comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage, and the length of time necessary to achieve this goal
- Tax consequences to each party
- Any mutual agreement made by the parties concerning financial or service contributions by one party with the expectation of future reciprocation or compensation by the other party
- Provisions of an antenuptial agreement
- Other factors the court may deem relevant
