In a divorce action, the court will divide the assets that were acquired during the marriage according to a number of factors. There is no requirement that a court split the assets 50% to each spouse, however that is a frequent outcome. Even if the court divided the marital assets 50% 50%, that division would not apply to assets where one party can show that they owned certain assets prior to a marriage. In such a case, the spouse usually gets to keep that asset free of any claim from the spouse. Houses present an more complex issue, since even if you bought the home prior to the marriage, it is likely that you paid part of the mortgage during the marriage, and the court will take that into consideration in determining how to divide the equity in the home.
Answered on Aug 13th, 2012 at 9:36 AM