Monday Message: April 12, 2021

How Assets and Liabilities are Divided in a Divorce

Are you going through a divorce? There are five things to consider when you are dividing assets and liabilities.

1. Date of Valuation: What date are we using to value the assets? Generally, we use the date of the filing of a petition, although you can agree to use another date.
2. Value of the Assets and Liabilities: If you’re dealing with bank accounts, you will be looking at the account statement date based on the month that we are using. For other assets such as real estate, cars, or collectibles, if you and your spouse can not agree to a value, you can have an appraisal done.
3. Who Gets What? Sometimes you can divide accounts down the middle, but if you’re dealing with real estate or collectibles, one spouse will receive the asset and the other will receive half of the value of the asset.
4. Balance Sheet: The presumption in Florida is that each spouse walks away with 50% of both debts and assets.
5. Equalizing Payments: Does anyone owe an equalizing payment? This can be paid from other assets right then and there or over time.

If you have any questions about assets, liabilities, and how to divide them in a divorce, give me a call. I am happy to speak with you on any divorce matters.

To sign up to receive the Monday Message, visit https://bit.ly/MondayMorningMessage​