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
If you have a trust fund or received an inheritance – whether before, during, or after your marriage – one of your big concerns when it comes to separation and divorce is probably how to adequately protect that asset. For many families, divorce marks a major turning point in their lives, especially as it relates...
In Virginia, we have three separate classifications for property: separate, marital, and hybrid. How property is classified impacts how it will be divided in a divorce. Marital and separate property are clear; what is marital is divided in the divorce, and what is separate belongs to the party who separately owns it. Hybrid property, on...
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...
Up until the court formally decides custody and visitation – or, alternatively, the parties enter into a signed custody agreement – there’s no formal child custody, visitation, or child support. For many couples, especially the ones that stay together (regardless of whether they’re married), that’s enough and it doesn’t go further than that. Even for...
I’m always surprised at just how many people maintain separate bank accounts throughout the entirety of their marriage. Though I definitely understand the desire to keep things separate – and maybe to share expenses in a mutually owned household account – I do think that it often causes confusion about what is marital property...
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...
Dividing Inheritance in Divorce You probably already know (or at least suspect) that things that you earned or purchased during the marriage are marital property, and will be divided in the divorce. For most people, that means we’re talking about dividing the big ticket items – real property (houses and land), retirement and investment accounts,...