In an equitable jurisdiction states, such as Massachusetts, all property, including gifted and inherited property, are considered marital assets and subject to division. The presumption is that the court will divide the property 50/50. However, being an equitable jurisdiction state, the court may chose not to award more property to once spouse over the other. There are a number of factors which plays a role in the court's analysis, such as the length of the marriage, age of the parties, health of the parties, the needs of any children, the ability of the both spouse to earn future income, etc. With respect to the house, it seems unfair that she would get the entire house unless you got an equivilant amount from a similar type of asset. The another alternative is that she reside in the house until the children graduate high school and then the house is sold and the proceeds are divided. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Answered on Feb 12th, 2015 at 5:47 AM