![\"Division](\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Division-of-Marriage-Assets-300x225.jpg\")
After the marriage has been dissolved, if the parties have accumulated assets during the course of the marriage, the Court now has to distribute the assets if requested to do so. The Court is asked to decide how the assets would be shared such as the House(s) Car(s) and the Bank account(s)and whom the child(ren) should reside with and whom should have visitation.<\/p>\n
It would be best if the parties could work out how the assets, visitation and custody of the children should be dealt with. This is best because the court has little sympathy for either spouse when taking a clinical approach towards separating the assets between the parties fully. This is called the \u201cClean Break Principle\u201d. With regard to the children the court\u2019s only consideration is what is in the best interest of the child.<\/p>\n
The guidelines which the court has to follow when it is called upon to distribute the assets are the income of both parties and if there is potential for either party to get increased income, the financial needs of the parties, the standard of living the parties enjoyed during the marriage, the ages of the parties and length of the marriage, the contributions that each of the parties made to the marriage, the conduct of either party that the court should take into consideration and finally if there was any benefit that one party could have acquired if the marriage had worked out.<\/p>\n
Each case is decided on its own facts.<\/p>\n
Either party brings property into the marriage<\/strong><\/p>\n If upon marriage you bring property into the marriage which you owned or inherited, the court does not make it part of the common pool unless the marriage was a lengthy one. The longer the marriage the more the property brought into the marriage becomes the joint property of the parties.<\/p>\n \u00a0Parties acquire assets but they are put in one spouse\u2019s name\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Where the matrimonial home or the vehicle is in one spouse\u2019s name only, upon distribution of the assets the other spouse is entitled to a share in the matrimonial asset notwithstanding.<\/p>\n The House wife<\/strong><\/p>\n Where the wife is the child rearer and home maker while the husband goes out to work, the law does not distinguish between the two. The law concludes that each in their different spheres contributed to the marriage.<\/p>\n Where both parties work<\/strong><\/p>\n Some spouses decide how they will contribute to the marriage when both work.\u00a0 One spouse pays the mortgage and utility bills and the other buys the food and provide for the children.<\/p>\n Lengthy marriages<\/strong><\/p>\n Where one spouse already has all of the assets and the other moves in with nothing but his\/her suitcase. If the marriage is a lengthy one then the spouse who moves in acquires a benefit from the same. If the marriage is a short one then the spouse may move out with the suitcase he\/she came in with and a lumpsum that is commensurate with the lifestyle acquired during the marriage.<\/p>\n Matrimonial property in joint names<\/strong>.<\/p>\n When the parties own the assets jointly especially the matrimonial home the court concludes that the parties by putting their names jointly on the land paper have already determined how they intended the property should be distributed. Sometimes some spouses share the mortgage payments and depending on their income they make a contribution to the mortgage.\u00a0 For example if the mortgage payment is $3000.00 per month and one spouse pays $2000.00 and the other $1000.00 the court shares the matrimonial home according to how the parties made payments.<\/p>\n Mortgages and ancillary relief<\/strong><\/p>\n Invariably the matrimonial home is still being paid for at the financial institution. Upon divorce the court may do several things depending on the circumstances of the case. They may order the property sold and after the financial institution is paid off distribute the equity either equally, or distribute the equity in the manner in which the parties were paying for the same i.e. two thirds \/one third ($2000\/$1000) Where there are children the property may not be sold as the court may determine that in order for there to be stability in the children\u2019s lives, the parties will continue to pay the mortgage until the last child acquires the age of 18 years.<\/p>\n The abovementioned scenarios are not exhaustive. In order to determine how the court would address your factual circumstances, seek assistance from a lawyer who should be able to advise you on how the court would address your given situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the marriage has been dissolved, if the parties have accumulated assets during the course of the marriage, the Court now has to distribute the assets if requested to do so. The Court is asked to decide how the assets…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":124369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n