Equitable Distribution Explained

During the course of a marriage, spouses tend to accumulate assets as well as debts.  Parties purchase homes, vehicles, boats and earn retirement benefits that all need to be divided when they decide to get divorced.

Equitable Distribution is the process by which the assets and debts acquired during the marriage are divided. 

Dividing Real Property

The most common asset that  parties acquire during the marriage is a home, often referred to in legal writing as the "marital residence." The parties can agree on a number of different options as it pertains to the marital residence. 

First and foremost, they must decide if the residence is going to be sold on the open market or if one party is going to buy the other party out of said residence. 

In the event one party wants to purchase the other party's interest in the property, the buyout value must be determined. Although this process can be complicated,  a very simplified explanation of the buy-out process is included herein for explanation purposes only.  

The first step in the process is to obtain a value of the property by hiring a neutral real estate appraiser. 

Next, we determine the amount outstanding on the remaining mortgage on the property. 

We then subtract the remaining mortgage from the appraised value to reveal the "buy-out" value. 

For Example: $500,000 (Appraisal value) - $300,000 (remaining mortgage) = $200,000 (buy-out value).

If the parties have an equal interest and there is no separate property credit to either party, you divide the buy-out value by 2 and that is the amount an individual would have to pay in order to obtain full ownership in the property. In the example above that amount would be $100,000.*

Pensions/Retirement Accounts

Any pension or retirement interest acquired during the marriage is considered marital property to be divided based on a seminal case Majauskas v. Majauskas. 

The Majauskas matter provided a formula to determine a "non-titled" parties interest in the retirement asset. Essentially (and simplifying), it states that the non-titled spouse is entitled to fifty (50%) percent of the amount accrued during the marriage. 

For example, Spouse #1 works and accrues a pension for ten (10) years before getting married. Spouse #1 and Spouse #2 are then married for ten (10) years before getting divorced. Under these circumstances, Spouse #1 is entitled to the full amount accrued during the first ten (10) years and fifty (50%) percent of the amount accrued during the course of the marriage. Spouse #2 is entitled to NONE of the pension accrued by Spouse #1 prior to the marriage and fifty (50%) percent of the amount accrued during the ten (10) years of marriage.*

*The above examples are simplified for explanation purposes only and should not be used for educational purposes.