There are only nine community property states, the remaining states are equitable distribution states, with the exception of Alaska, which is normally an equitable distribution state, but has the option for spouses to choose to create a community property estate. In an equitable distribution state, the divorce process involves evaluation of a broad set of factors, specific to each state’s statutes, which may include the following:
- Each spouse’s contributions to the marriage, financial and nonfinancial
- Length of the marriage
- Current finances of each spouse
- Skills, education, and ability of each spouse to earn a living
- Age and health
- Children and custody
- Separate property contributed to the marriage
- How easily assets may be turned into cash
- Sometimes, personal conduct such as abuse, extramarital affairs, or misuse of marital assets will be considered by the court.
The process of determining who gets what at the end of a marriage in either community property or equitable division states can be complex. This is especially true as families look at losses from large scale economic changes that may be no fault of either party. When getting a divorce, spouses must look at a snapshot of what they actually have at that moment in time. This means anything that has lost value, such as homes and investments, must be considered at current market value. Often, expectations are unrealistic and financial decisions made during the marriage become the crux of conflict and finger pointing. It can be hard to accept that assets and income are simply whatever they are at the time of divorce.
The bottom line is courts try to reasonably undo the contractual nature of marriage. They try for a justifiable division of all accumulated assets. The intent is to provide each person a platform from which to begin a new life with a portion of what they once shared as a family.
