Division Of Property
What do judges consider when distributing property?
When distributing property, what a judge is going to consider is its real value and whether it makes sense that assets should go to one party over another. For example, if it's a business that one spouse has been running all of his or her life, in all probability that business is going to be awarded to that spouse in a divorce. The question will be what is the compensation for the community interest in that property to the other spouse.
What can I do if I feel the judge was unfair when distributing property?
If you think the judge was unfair in making a decision, there is a process for appeal. When you look at that and you consult with a lawyer on whether or not you can appeal it or ask for a new trial hearing, from the lawyer's side it's really not about whether the judge was fair; it's about whether the judge made a decision that's reasoned within the statutory scheme of life, here in California, for example, or within the scheme of case law. So, if we have cases that say, "Under certain circumstances, the judge can do A, B, or C," and the judge chooses B, and you say, "That's not fair," tough luck. On the other hand, if the judge makes a bad call, an unreasoned call, and makes a decision that isn't supported by statute or case law, then there are processes to try and change that.
Will the courts divide up our debt?
There is community debt and there is separate debt. Community debt is usually divided equally between the divorcing spouses during a divorce. Community debt is any debt incurred between the date of marriage and the date of separation. Separate debt isn't divided. Separate debt is a debt that you had before you got married, or the debt that you incurred after the date of separation. Separate debt is your debt.
Is there a limit to the amount of alimony that my spouse can receive?
There might be a limit as to the amount of alimony your spouse receives and there might not. Really with alimony it's two questions: how much and how long? General rule of thumb, half the length of the marriage. In California, marriages of ten years or longer, long term marriages. In a long term marriage, alimony could go until death or remarriage. Everybody's unique, everybody's case is different. If you have a disabled spouse, we'd approach it in one fashion. If you have a spouse that has a history of working and all of a sudden just doesn't want to, we'd look at that differently. If we have a spouse with no skills, never worked, then we would want to look at that and say, "What can we do to get that spouse working, what about education, what about training, how long is it going to take?" Generally speaking, there is a statutory expectation in California that divorcing spouses become self supporting within a reasonable period of time. The question is, what's a reasonable period of time? What's reasonable if you've been married for two years is going to be totally different than if you've been married for twenty-four years.
