• Property that a spouse owned before getting married • Property that is a gift from a third party • Property that has been inherited
Step 5: Decide how the property will be divided
Sometimes a spouse will be able to afford to buy the other spouse out of the property. Usually, however, the property will have to be sold because spouses don’t have the cash to buy each other out. If the assets are sold, then the proceeds from the sale will be divided. A judge can order that a property be sold or transferred from one spouse to another. What Properties that may be divided unequally between the spouses?? Some property will not be divided equally between the spouses. Instead, the division will be based on what is fair in the circumstances. • Any increases in value of exempt propert y Example: Peter inherited a cottage from his parents a few years ago. At the time Peter inherited it, it was worth $100,000. Now it is worth $120,000. The $20,000 could be shared between the spouses, in whatever way is just and equitable. For example, if the property increase is due to the work that Peter put into the property on his own, then perhaps Peter should receive a bigger share of the value than his spouse. • Property that is purchased using income received from exempt property Example: Louise inherited a house from her parents. She rents the house out and puts the rental income into investments. Louise may have to share the money that she makes from her investments with her spouse, but she could argue that she should receive more than her spouse because she did all of the work for the rental property and the investments.
29
Powered by FlippingBook