Suffolk County Property Division Attorney

Equitable Distribution Lawyer in Suffolk

If you are considering or are currently going through a divorce, you may wonder what will happen with the property that you acquired prior to the marriage, property your spouse acquired prior to the marriage which was enhanced with marital funds, or property acquired jointly or separately during the marriage. Will these properties be distributed equally?  Will the non-titled spouse receive a distributive award of the titled spouse's separate property? 

New York is an "equitable distribution" state, meaning that almost all property acquired during a marriage will be divided between spouses, regardless of whose name is on the title.  It is important to note that "equitable" does not mean "equal". 

Martial property includes all property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, and excludes as "separate property" the following:

• Property that was acquired by a spouse before the marriage
• Compensation received by a spouse for pain and suffering from a personal injury claim or lawsuit
• Gifts, money or inheritance received by a spouse from someone other than his or her husband or wife

Separate property remains as such and does not get distributed.  Marital property, on the other hand, must be distributed "equitably."  The court will take into account a multitude of factors in distributing marital property, including those listed here:

• The length of the marriage
• The age of both spouses
• The health of each spouse
• The earning potential of each spouse and their future financial circumstances
• The income of each spouse both at the time of the marriage and at the time of separation or divorce
• The property owned by each spouse at the time of marriage and at the time of separation
• Direct or indirect contributions towards a spouse's career
• Any wasteful dissipation of assets by either spouse
• The contributions of each spouse, including a spouse who is a homemaker and either made direct or indirect contributions towards the acquisition of assets
• Any transfer or encumbrance made in contemplation of a divorce action without fair consideration
• Whether spousal support has been awarded and in what amount
• The need of a custodial parent to occupy or own the marital residence

Interestingly, if an asset was acquired prior to the marriage (i.e., "separate property"), but the value of the asset was increased as the result of the direct or indirect contributions of the non-titled spouse, then the increase in value of the asset may be "marital" and subject to equitable distribution.  Similarly, assets presumed "separate" may become marital by commingling them.  Thus, where separate property funds acquired prior to the marriage are used to purchase an investment in joint names during the marriage, the funds will most likely lose their separate property nature and be transformed into marital property.  Separate property monies deposited into a joint account are usually transformed into marital monies.

Contact us for a consultation to protect your property rights.