Splitting property in divorce
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- How do we divide the property and debts?
- There is no fixed way to determine how to divide the property. Missouri has two major categories of property in a dissolution context: marital and separate. These types of property are established by statute and interpreted and analyzed by various appellate Court decisions.
- Non-marital property is all property:
- Acquired by gift, bequest, devise or descent;
- Acquired in exchange for property acquired prior to the marriage or in exchange for property acquired by gift, bequest, devise or descent;
- Acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation;
- Excluded by valid agreement of the parties; and
- The increase in the value of the property acquired prior to marriage or pursuant to 1 through 4 above unless marital assets including labor have contributed to such increases and then only to the extent of such contributions. (Section 452.330.2 RSMo.)
- Marital property is all property acquired during the marriage except by the means described as non-marital above.
- The Missouri statute which requires the Court to divide marital property does not mention debts. The Court may assess responsibility for the debts between the spouses but is not required to do so.
- An attorney can help you understand the important considerations in dividing property. One vital consideration in dividing property is to determine whether you will spend more on attorney fees fighting over property, than the property is worth.
