What The Court Looks At When Dividing Assets In A Divorce

Once you determine whether or not you’re going to file for divorce, you need to identify the assets that the marriage owns. In South Carolina, anything that was acquired during the marriage is considered part of the marital pot, so to speak. Debts, property, personal and real investment accounts, and anything else the couple has acquired over the course of the marriage is determined to be divisible between the two spouses. It’s as if the court looks at the marriage as a partnership that is dissolving and the court’s job is to take everything that came into being in this company and divide it between the two contributing members.

Some of the factors the court looks at include:

• the length of the marriage;
• the percentage of contribution between the spouses, and whether one spouse worked and the other was a stay-at-home parent;
• tax consequences;
• future earning ability;
• other relevant information.

All of these different factors come into play when the court tries to determine how to equitably distribute the debts and assets of a marriage.

Catherine Hendrix is a partner at the Law Offices of Lester & Hendrix where they are committed to solving divorce and separation issues. Families throughout South Carolina can rely on their team of Attorneys for advice and counsel.