What will happen to our property, financial accounts, and debts?

The assumption in Massachusetts is that all the property, financial accounts, and debts which came about during the time of the marriage (often called the marital estate) will be split evenly between the spouses.  This normally means that each spouse will keep whatever they had before they were married. However, there are some complicated exceptions to this assumption.

While Judges will only divide the value of property obtained after the parties were married, they can still order that one spouse use their pre-marital property to account for marital value. This normally happens where marital property is not sufficiently liquid to be divided, such as with retirement accounts or real estate; but, this can also happen where one spouse did something during the marriage which greatly affected either the current value of the marital estate or the other spouse’s ability to meet their own financial needs.

During the divorce, it is our job to help the Judge accurately value the different parts of the marital estate and make the appropriate legal arguments to get you the fairest division possible. Whether one spouse received an inheritance during the marriage, is the recipient of a financial trust, spent marital funds for themself individually, or took some action that affected the value of the marital estate, we will help advocate for your best financial interests.