Divorce is complicated on any number of issues. One of them is property division. Some people think property division should be exactly equal. Other people think if they made more money, (and therefore paid for more things during the course of the marriage) they should get more of the property. Neither of these approaches is necessarily correct. Dividing property in a divorce occurs in stages.
- Identify the Property at Issue
The first step in dividing property during a divorce is identifying the property at issue. Property acquired during the marriage is, by and large, marital property. Similarly, property each person brought in to the marriage is, by and large, non-marital property. For example, if someone enters the marriage with their great grandmother’s 3 carat diamond ring, the ring most likely remains premarital property and is not considered during property division.