Property and Debt Division FAQ Category
A common myth exists that each asset and each debt is divided in half. In actuality, when property and debts are divided the marital estate as a whole is examined first, rather than dividing each individual piece of property and each debt. This is like filling out a Financial Statement for a bank loan. You list everything you own and how much it is worth and then you list all of your debts and how much is owed. The difference between these two numbers is the net marital estate. Then each piece of property and each debt is assigned to one of the parties to try to make sure each gets approximately the same amount of the net marital estate. For example:
Assets
|
Wife
|
Husband
|
|
| House |
$200,000
|
|
| Retirement |
$50,000
|
|
| Car #1 |
$15,000
|
|
| Car #2 |
$10,000
|
|
| Checking Account |
$5,000
|
|
| Savings Account |
$20,000
|
|
| TOTAL ASSETS |
$240,000
|
$60,000
|
Debts
|
Wife
|
Husband
|
|
| Mortgage |
$160,000
|
|
| Auto Loan |
$5,000
|
|
| Auto Loan |
$10,000
|
|
| Credit Card |
$10,000
|
|
| Credit Card |
$5,000
|
|
| TOTAL ASSETS |
$175,000
|
$15,000
|
Recap
|
Wife
|
Husband
|
|
| Assets |
$240,000
|
$60,000
|
| Minus Debt |
$175,000
|
$15,000
|
| TOTAL ASSETS |
$ 65,000
|
$ 45,000
|
In this case, the Wife is receiving $20,000 more than the Husband. If the goal is a 50/50 division, then the Wife would have to either give Husband $10,000 from her assets, or, take over $10,000 worth of debt originally assigned to Husband.
Not necessarily. Missouri is known as an equitable division state. Even though Missouri does not require fault to get a divorce, it does allow the conduct of each party to be taken into consideration in the (more…)