A very important part of any divorce process, is the inevitable division of your property. While any divorce is going to be unpleasant to go through, and it will most likely be an unpleasant experience to have to divvy up all of your property between the two of you, it’s a necessary part of the divorce and must be accomplished if you’re going to move forward.
To accomplish this unfortunate, but necessary division of your property, there is a procedure called equitable distribution in Minnesota that takes place. This procedure is only effective in states that have divorce laws that stem from the English form of the divorce law which is referred to as “Common Law”. Several states however, have a very different system for divorces, as they inherited the policies of Mexico concerning divorce. These policies originate from Spain, and state that each spouse owns a 50% interest in all the property that was acquired during their marriage. Each of these states have differing laws for divorce; Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Common Law states, such as Minnesota, follow a doctrine of equitable division which states that property will be divided during the divorce procedure, by either agreement, through property settlement, or by judicial degree. It’s very important to understand that equitable distribution in Minnesota does not mean “equal division” between spouses. Courts don’t want the involved property to be split right down the middle for each spouse, but would rather award the property and any liabilities with respect to a variety of criteria. Length of marriage plays a large role, as the longer the marriage is, the more likely the agreement will be closer to a 50-50 division.
If one of the spouses has a lesser potential to earn money (or has stayed home to take care of children while the other worked) then they will most likely receive a more favorable share of the property in question. Number of children involved in the divorce, as well as the health of the spouses, will also play a role in how much is given to each one. Custodial parents usually get more than the other spouse, depending on which one has custody. Likewise a spouse with poor health may have a greater need for marital property. Your divorce attorney will of course be able to help you in understanding these things better.
