Divorce and Property Division
Who gets the cars? Who gets the house? How should the family business be divided? Has your spouse been hiding assets? These are all important questions that must be explored and answered in the property division portion of a divorce.
Historical Use is a Factor in Property Division
The courts look at the historical use of an asset in deciding who gets what. If the wife drove the van and the husband drove the truck, they will likely retain those assets in the final property division agreement.
Creative Legal Solutions to Complex Financial Issues
Alabama is a non-community property state where marital assets are not necessarily split down the middle. This gives divorcing and separating couples the freedom to negotiate more creative approaches to property division.
At Burttram & Henderson, in Birmingham, our divorce lawyers have decades of experience helping clients achieve their goals in property division.
Analyzing Your Financial Situation
We begin with an analysis of all of your assets and debts. Gather copies of your tax returns, and statements from your bank accounts, investments, pensions, 401Ks, mortgage, credit card debt and other loans.
This initial financial analysis often gives us clues that the other spouse is hiding assets in another state, off shore or in the name of a relative, girlfriend or boyfriend. When necessary, we will bring in a forensic accountant or a forensic computer expert to get to the bottom of the situation.
Marital Property or Separate Property?
Our attorneys will identify which assets are marital assets and which are separate property. In general, anything that was inherited or received as a gift during the marriage is considered separate property as long as it was kept apart from marital assets and not used for the benefit of the household.
