Any asset acquired by a party following marriage and prior to the Decree of Dissolution is presumed to be marital property, and therefore subject to equitable division between the parties. To determine what property is subject to division the court first determines each party's own separate property. Separate property is property obtained by one party prior to the marriage. Also, there are a few statutory provisions defining as separate property any property that was obtained by gift or devise, or obtained by exchanging a gift or other separate property for another asset. Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation, or other property excluded by agreement of the parties, will also be considered a party's own separate property.
The court will apply various factors to determine how marital assets should be divided between spouses. These factors include the contribution of a spouse as homemaker, the value of a spouse's separate property, the economic circumstances of each spouse, and any increase or decrease in the value of separate property of the spouse during the marriage.
There are other considerations impacting the statutory provisions governing classification and distribution of marital property, and our office is ready to assist you and help you work through the distribution of assets of your marriage.