Divorce: Who Gets The House?

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If you are like most other individuals in Florida, your home is your most valuable marital asset. So if you are contemplating a divorce, one of your first questions will likely be, who gets the house, if anyone?

You may be concerned that your name is not listed on the deed of your marital home. However, in Florida, if you purchased the home during your marriage using marital funds, your home is presumed to be marital property, regardless of in whose name it is titled. This means that each spouse is entitled to half of the equity in the home (and responsible for half the loss if it has lost valued).

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Will a Florida Judge Order a Doggy Custody Schedule?

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When two people are getting divorced in Florida, and they have one or more minor children, a custody schedule (now known in Florida as a time-sharing schedule)  must be established.  Approximately 90-95% of all cases settle at some point (whether it is before the filing of a petition for divorce or after spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing for or even going through trial), and so the parties generally end up agreeing to a child time-sharing schedule.  But in those times where they do not agree, a Florida family law judge will take the decision out of the hands of the parents and set a time-sharing schedule.

But divorce doesn’t only affect the children.  It also affects the family pets.  So will a Florida judge order a doggy (or kitty) custody schedule?

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Equitable Distribution: How to Divide My IRA?

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In a divorce proceeding, the court will divide the parties’ marital property and debts in a process called “equitable distribution.”  The court starts with the presumption that property should be divided equally, but it may adjust the distribution based on various factors including (i) the relative economic circumstances of the parties, (ii) any interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities, and (iii) the intentional waste or destruction of assets.

Retirement accounts require special attention during the equitable distribution process.  George Saenz at Fox Business News discusses this:

Not only are you getting separated from your spouse, but also your money. An individual retirement account, or IRA, belongs to the spouse that established it. You generally cannot transfer money from one spouse’s IRA to the other spouse’s account. An exception exists in the case of a divorce.

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