We talked the other day about debt when it is marital and how it is often divided in a divorce. But marital ASSETS are categorized as either separate or marital before they are divided – so what happens in the event that debt is separate? It’s a good question. Typically, separate property is anything that...
Virginia Separate Debt in Divorce
Though we talk a lot about division of the assets, we often spend a lot less time talking about division of debt. Even though dividing debt is always an important part of a divorce, it tends to take a backseat – not because it’s not important, but probably more because it’s a whole lot less...
As much as we often try to keep things amicable in a divorce or custody case, there are some things that are fairly well established hard and fast rules. Dividing the retirement, for example, and how to handle division of equity in the home – easy peasy. Some of the more complicated issues are usually...
The general wisdom seems to be that, if you bring property into a marriage, you should protect it with a prenuptial agreement – or, even, by not getting married at all. I can’t tell you how many times someone has told me this. That’s why it’s always a very good idea to talk to an...
You’ve been married a really long time. At this point, probably almost every asset (or liability) you can think of is one that was earned, purchased, or acquired during the marriage. While it doesn’t have to be harder to end a longer marriage as opposed to a shorter one, there are often a lot...
Debt is challenging under the best of circumstances, but when you’re considering a legal separation or a divorce, it can be a particularly challenging extra layer of complication. On its face, dividing debt is the same as dividing assets – in most cases, we look to the source of the debt, classify it as...
In most cases, my clients have been with their husband for a number of years, accumulating a number of possessions – both consequential and inconsequential. Though we don’t often spend much time dividing the sheets and bath towels, other things, especially big ticket items like houses and cars, do occupy a fair amount of time...
I hesitate to use absolutes, because, in law, there are very few. We rarely say “never” or “always”; we often say “it depends”. But I’m pretty sure I can absolutely say that, if you or your husband own a business, your divorce is going to be more expensive than a divorce where we have two...