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How Two High Value Assets Are Divided In A Divorce

4 December 2020

Arthur Young

One of the lengthy parts of the divorce process is dividing the shared marital assets. However, it is also quite complicated when trying to make things equal between both spouses with high-value assets. Here are some tips on how asset distribution can be done fairly. 

Dividing The Home

Dividing a home is incredibly difficult to do, especially if someone wants to keep the home. That's because if neither spouse wants to keep the home, they can simply sell it and divide the profits from the sale. Things need to be handled a bit differently though when the home will not be sold. 

If one spouse will be staying in the home, then it is possible that the spouse that retains the home can buy out the portion of the home that has been paid for during the length of the mortgage. The easiest way to do this is by getting a new mortgage on the house. This would remove the liability of paying the mortgage from both spouses, and the spouse not staying in the home can get back half of the equity that they have put into it. 

Dividing Pension Income

Another thing that needs to be considered is any future pension income or pensions that one spouse is set to receive. Even though that income has not been generated yet, it is something that both spouses have a right to since it has been a part of each person's retirement planning. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to divide pension income, but there are basic guidelines that can be used.

If a pension is being divided, a simple math problem can be used to estimate how much each spouse will receive. You would take the number of years the pension earning spouse was contributing to the pension while married, and divide that by the total amount of years of employment put in toward retirement. This will give you a percentage of what portion of the pension was contributed to while married. Each spouse would then be entitled to half that amount at the time the pension is received.

For example, if a couple was married for 10 years, and a spouse is set to contribute 30 years at a company to receive a pension, then ⅓ of the pension was earned during the marriage. This means that one spouse would receive ⅙ of the pension benefits at the time they are distributed, while the other would receive ⅚ of the benefits. 

For more information, reach out to a family law attorney in your area.

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