You may assume that dividing your personal items is one of the easier tasks in your divorce. However, for expensive items that have appreciated in value, there may be more at stake. Continue reading to learn how you can divide your expensive personal items in a mediated divorce and how an experienced York County, PA divorce mediation attorney at Ilkhanoff & Silverstein can take you through this process.
Can my expensive personal items be divided in a mediated divorce?
Essentially, a mediated divorce will allow you and your spouse to negotiate all your divorce-related issues at hand to reach a fair settlement agreement. This negotiation is done outside of the courtroom and instead in the presence of an unbiased third party, which may or may not be a divorce attorney.
With that being said, in using this divorce method, you and your spouse will maintain control over how you divide your expensive personal items. The following are examples of personal items that are potentially high in monetary value:
- Designer items (purses, shoes, etc).
- Jewelry (engagement ring, wedding band, etc).
- Antiques (furniture, silverware, etc).
- Collectible items (coins, stamps, comic books, art, etc).
- Hobby accessories (golf equipment, musical instruments, etc).
- Sports memorabilia (trading cards, autographed equipment, etc).
Can my expensive personal items be divided as marital property vs. separate property?
In your mediated divorce, you and your spouse will have to make determinations as to which expensive personal items are marital property and which are separate property.
For example, if you bought an expensive personal item using your joint credit card during your marriage, then it will likely be considered marital property. With this, you and your spouse will have to negotiate which one of you should retain it after your divorce.
On the other hand, the following are items that will likely be considered separate property:
- An item that was acquired before your marriage.
- An item that was acquired during your marriage as an inheritance.
- An item that was acquired during your marriage as a gift from a third party.
- An item that was acquired during your marriage as a gift from your spouse and that was purchased with a separate source of funding.
If you and your spouse remain amicable throughout the process, then dividing up this separate property should come easy. If this is unfortunately not the case, then you and your spouse will need to battle it out in the presence of a Pennsylvania family law court. A Pennsylvania judge will divide the expensive personal items on your behalf, and the odds are that neither you nor your spouse will wind up with what meets all your needs and interests.
For help during your mediated divorce, you must contact a skilled York County, PA property division attorney without hesitation.
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