If you and your spouse are considering divorce, one of your top concerns may be the division of your assets. From your home and bank accounts to investments and personal property, you may worry about how a court-ordered distribution might impact your children and your separate futures.
As in other states, New Hampshire law considers most assets that either spouse obtains during their marriage to be marital property. Upon divorce, a judge may divide this shared marital property between spouses based on a goal of “equitable distribution.”
What does “equitable distribution” mean?
While the court assumes that each spouse has equal ownership of marital property during marriage, a judge may not divide marital property equally during divorce. Instead, the court tries to divide assets in a way that is fair, or equitable, to both parties given a family’s specific circumstances.
What factors might impact the court’s decision?
Considerations that can impact property division include:
- The length of the marriage and standard of living spouses shared
- The income, educational background and employability of each spouse
- The age and health status of each spouse
- Whether/how spouses will share parenting responsibilities
What if we agree on property division?
You and your spouse may be able to avoid a court-ordered distribution of assets if you can agree to negotiate a property division settlement in an uncontested divorce.
In addition to saving on court fees and other legal costs, an uncontested divorce can help to keep control over property decisions between you and your future ex.
