When someone is going through a divorce, one source of confusion is usually the division of assets. In most cases, people make assumptions regarding this matter based on ideas that have no real bearing in court. However, as you and your spouse decide how you will split up your assets, you must also consider the long-term ramifications and seek the advice of a divorce lawyer.
Under Virginia divorce laws, the courts must follow the principle of equitable distribution when it comes to the division of marital assets. Throughout the divorce process, couples are typically presented with several opportunities to agree on an equitable split. However, if they fail to reach a consensus, or agree on how to keep the house in a divorce, the courts will step in and decide on their behalf after a hearing on the matter.
With that said, in Virginia, assets are typically divided into three categories in a divorce. Therefore, for women saying, ‘My husband wants a divorce what are my rights?’, it is important that you understand this fact. It should also be noted that personal and real estate property may be considered marital, part-marital, or part-separate property, depending on how and when it was obtained.
Marital Property
Any assets bought or obtained by either spouse after the commencement of their marriage and before their separation are viewed as marital property. This includes items such as cars, stocks, real estate, furniture, bonds, shares in businesses, and recreational crafts, to mention a few.
Separate Property
When it comes to separate property, there are certain exceptions. For instance, any funds or assets acquired through inheritance by either spouse during the marriage are not deemed marital property. However, monetary assets obtained through inheritance have to be traced in Virginia to maintain their separate character. A separate gift from one spouse is also considered separate property. Finally, any items that one spouse acquired before the marriage or after the separation that can be linked back to separate earnings are deemed to belong solely to that spouse.
Hybrid Property
Hybrid property status can occur when one spouse decides to liquidate whatever property they owned before or happened to inherit during the marriage and direct the proceeds to purchase a marital property. The spouse must show how much of the revenue came from the separate property in most cases. For example, if a wife sells a house that she owned in another state before the marriage to acquire a new one in Virginia, she could say that some of the equity vested in the house is separate property. This is despite the house being titled in both parties names or bought during the marriage.
Prenuptial And Postnuptial Contracts
One of the ways an attorney can bypass the marital property clause is to advise their client to sign a prenuptial agreement before entering into a marriage or ask them to sign a postnuptial agreement before purchasing any property that needs to remain separate.
Disclosure Of Assets
It is not uncommon for couples going through a divorce to attempt to hide assets from each other. However, doing so is highly inadvisable. The reason for this is that your spouse will most likely have a general idea of how much you are worth. Therefore, if your assets appear to be suspiciously lacking, you could find yourself facing a forensic audit. Failure to fully disclose your assets can also lead to a breakdown in effective communication and negotiations since it will be almost impossible for the other party to trust you.
In most cases, if the judge happens to discover that one spouse has been hiding some of your assets during the divorce proceedings, they will more than likely give them the short end of the stick. This means that that spouse could end up with way less than they expected at the end of the day.
In Conclusion
From the information provided above, one could assume that the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding divorce matters are relatively complicated. However, this is not the case. If you know what you want from your divorce and have a reasonable attorney working with you, the process can go relatively smoothly or much better than you expected.
