Alpha Center for Divorce Mediation

There is often a lot of anxiety about dividing assets and debt and determining payment obligations. When one household is divided to create two new households, everyone usually takes a painful step back. People who pay high legal fees to divorce litigation attorneys take an even bigger step back.

When you brush aside the emotions, you see that much of the law is simple math. These are the basic calculations:

The laws underlying these calculations are complicated and professional help is needed to follow the law and make fair decisions. Using an aggressive litigation attorney or a neutral Alpha attorney usually has the same mathematical outcome, but our clients come out much farther ahead financially because their legal fees are so much lower.

Following is a discussion about the major concerns in determining the value and divisions of your 'marital estate'. It is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be a comprehensive statement of the law. An attorney should always be consulted.

ASSET/DEBT VALUES
Generally, all assets acquired during a marriage are subject to division even if they are titled in one person's name. However, there are many exceptions that should be discussed with an attorney. It is important to determine the true value of each asset and the total value of all marital assets and debts before making divisions.

REAL ESTATE
If one person is keeping the home or other real estate, it is best to determine values by hiring a neutral appraiser. Agreeing to a value or using an old appraisal can lead to unfair results. Also, the person who wants to keep the real estate should remove the other person's name from the mortgage, note and deed to the property. This can be accomplished by securing a release of liability, an assumption or a refinance. If the property is to be sold, none of these steps is necessary.

PENSIONS
If either party has a pension through a current or past employer, sometimes it is necessary to consult an expert to determine the value under law. Often the statements sent out by the company providing the pension do not contain the correct value for legal purposes. If a pension is going to be divided, it is necessary to do so through the court in a procedure called a Domestic Relations Order. Sometimes a good alternative is to determine the value and then compensate the other person with another asset.

alomony, child support, spousal support and marital estate financially divided

BUSINESSES
In most cases, businesses have a value that should be independently determined by a neutral expert. Guessing at values can lead to unfair result for either party. The person who keeps the business should remove the other's name from any liability or asset associated with the business.

AUTOMOBILES
Values are determined by using 'private party' valuation found at Kelley Blue Book. It is recommended that all loans, insurance and other vehicle responsibility be transferred to individual names. Insurance coverage can be voided if you do not inform the company that you have moved to separate addresses.

PERSONAL PROPERTY
All personal property is valued at 'market value' under law. Since most furniture and household items have little resale value, you should attempt to make a fair division without involving an attorney. A neutral appraiser should value any item that has a high value.

CONSUMER DEBT
It is best to check your credit report to determine what joint and individual obligations are shown. Often times the report differs from your expectations. All consumer debt accounts should be transferred to individual names.