California Divorce: Dividing Property

According to an exclusive report by 24/7 wall st, at least 9.7% of the California population is divorced. Every year divorce cases all over California are amusing. Due to the significant number of divorces, the number of property settlement cases has dramatically increased as well.

The above is why we need the expertise of judicial and legal divorce advisors and property settlements. But how is property apportioned after divorce, what share does each party get? Here is a full guide on California property division and divorce.

What Is Property in Divorce?

Property is anything that can be sold or bought. The feature also includes anything that has value. An Asset and property division lawyer can help you in the division of your properties. However, there are different types of properties as given in the divorce laws.

Community Property

Community property is anything purchased after the date of marriage or the date of registration of a domestic partnership. The above also includes all earnings by each of the couples after the filing of domestic partnership or marriage.

How do you know if an asset is community property? You check the source of financing for the asset bought. If you earned money used to purchase the asset during the marriage, then the asset immediately qualifies for community asset law.

What about debt? Is there community debt? Community debt is any debt acquired by one or both of the spouses during the partnership or marriage. As long as the party took the debt during the marriage period, it is community debt. It includes any liability you took without notification of the other party.

In California, both parties have an equal share of the community property. However, this does not mean that each member will get 50% of the debts or the assets. An asset and property division lawyer will assist them in balancing their assets and liabilities. The person that goes with the house may get a more significant share of the debt.

Quasi Property

Quasi property is any property that was acquired after the date of registration of domestic partnership but not acquired in California. Any property acquired in another state but which, if purchased in California, would be community property is quasi-community property. The division of quasi-community property is the same as that of community property; each spouse gets half of the share.

Separate Property

The above is any property you had before the date of marriage or registration of domestic partnership. The above means that any amount or property inherited is separate property. Any amount given as a gift to either of the spouses before the date of marriage or domestic partnership registration is separate property. The Profits earned from separate assets even during the marriage are separate profit. Any property purchased by profits from the sale of separate property is considered separate.

Also, any property garnered after the date of the divorce is considered separate. Separate property belongs to the owning spouse. The property shall not be at any point apportioned to the other spouse.

Combine Separate and Community Property

Differentiation of separate from community property may at times be a tussle, especially if the property has both separate and community sides. In this case, the assets are commingling assets. A good example is when one spouse owns the house as separate property, but they pay mortgage payments after marriage or registration of a domestic partnership.

How are commingled assets treated? These assets can be tough to apportion if it's hard to know the amount plowed in during the marriage and the one before the marriage. At this point, there will need to be an expert who will determine the specific values of the separate and community property. A good divorce lawyer and property division expert will give you a step by step guide in the property division process.

Out Of Court Settlement

Some couples agree to work out the separation of property process on their own. However, they must, after agreeing, present the agreement to a state judge to authorize it by signature.

How will each party ensure they get their fair share of the divorce settlements? The judicial department of California has provided a form to fill to disclose all the individual separate and community properties. During asset and division process, the parties will have to follow the following steps to be sure of their asset status:

• Create a full list of your assets- They write down all the assets they own, including those in other states
• Determine if the assets are separate or community
• Do proper valuation of the assets
• Divide the assets equally if community assets

During apportioning of the properties of the parties must honestly disclose their financial status. If they don't disclose truthfully, it may lead to future penalties. When settling the matters out of court, they should involve a property division lawyer Los Angeles as their consultant.

Pension Plan Separation

As compared to all other assets, a pension plan might be the most valuable asset of the divorced. Some pension plans value even higher than all family assets combined. Due to its high value, you should contact a divorce attorney Los Angeles. They will assist you to settle any issues of pension nature.

Also, another reason to contact a divorce attorney Los Angeles is the documentation required to assure that the parties are divorced and are no longer beneficiaries of the other pension. The courts require the QDRO documents, which are incredibly complicated to write. If you make a mistake, it may bring serious future implications. Therefore, with a divorce lawyer and property division advocate, you can carefully take care of that.