Property and Debt Division in Divorce in Tacoma 

In Tacoma, all of your assets and debts, including those you hold apart from your marriage, will be divided and given to either side during your divorce as it is assumed that community property, the marital assets owned by both spouses will be shared justly and equally.  Included in this are your home and any other real property, your belongings, your car and things you own. Protecting a client’s assets during divorce proceedings is one of the main responsibilities of a qualified divorce attorney. Visit this page to learn more about how a divorce attorney can help you. 

Division of property and debt:

Washington is a “no-fault” state for divorce. The spouse who “caused” the divorce cannot be taken into account while distributing the property. That implies that all of the family’s assets and debts are on the table at the time of divorce so that they can be fairly shared between the couple by the court.

Asset Valuation:

In your divorce case, the value of both your separate and communal property is likely to be a point of contention. Getting parties to agree on the total value of their assets is typically challenging. In certain cases, the best approach to assess a property’s value is through a sale.

The court could appoint a specialist (paid for by the parties) to evaluate the assets if the parties desire to possess the assets. Alternatively, the parties may employ experts. After considering the expert reports, the court or mediator will decide on valuations. 

Community Property And Separate Property:

In general, assets and debts obtained during a marriage are considered Community Property under Washington divorce law, while whatever the couples held before their marriage is considered Separate Property. Each party is typically given their distinct property as well as a share of the common property.

The duration of the marriage and the economic disparities between the spouses are two elements the court considers when allocating property. The court may even give your wife a share of your separate property if your marriage has lasted long or if one of you is financially struggling.

Final thoughts:

Through negotiations or mediation, divorcing spouses can agree on how to divide the property. If the plan does not divide assets evenly, the parties must state their justification and affirm their agreement. It is also possible to specify a distribution that varies from the equitable property partition presumption in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.