When a marriage ends, especially when you’ve been together a long time, there are many things that need to be sorted out. It’s natural to spend time grieving the end of your relationship, but it’s also essential to make sure you start thinking about how to protect yourself legally and financially.
Property is typically the most significant investment a couple will make during their marriage, especially when investment properties or vacation homes are involved. How do you make sure you leave the marriage with your fair entitlement?
Property is divided equitably in New York divorces
Equitably division means the court will look at all the property a divorcing couple purchased during their marriage and will make sure that it is divided fairly between the parties. This does not necessarily mean a 50/50 split.
The court will take into account different factors, such as your individual earning levels, who has custody of any children, the duration of the marriage, the potential future income of each party and whether the court has awarded alimony. It will be important, therefore, to provide the court with documentation to show why you should be entitled to the share of the marital property that you are requesting.
Property acquired before the marriage is separate property
If you had property of your own before the marriage, this may be considered separate property (so long as you did not commingle it with your spouse’s assets). This can be property you bought by yourself or that you inherited. You can also carve out exceptions to the marital property rules through prenuptial or postnuptial agreements. Before you start to divide anything, make sure you understand who holds the rights to that item.
Experienced legal guidance can help
The best way of protecting your legal rights to your property during a divorce is to make sure you have legal guidance throughout the process from an attorney experienced in high-asset divorces.
At The Law Firm of Poppe & Associates, PLLC our focus is relentless advocacy for our clients. If you are someone you know is going through divorce and looking for a divorce attorney experienced in handling property division and high-asset divorces, call us to schedule a consultation at 646-665-3903 or by filling out the online form.
Let Me Be Your Brave
Mia Poppe, Esq.
Managing Partner