Second Wives Crusade - Divorce And Family Lawyers Speak Out

Here at Second Wives Crusade, we believe that all children deserve equal rights and protection under the law.

We stand for equality and fairness for all families.

Parker Herring discusses equitable distribution, which is the division of assets, property, and debts during a divorce.

TRANSCRIPT: Equitable distribution is the division of property through the court system. You can do equitable distribution without involving the court and end up with a separation agreement or collaborative law. But it’s the division of all of your property. What is property? It’s the stuff, it’s the things. So you start with real estate, then go down to paper money accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, airplanes, and motorcycles. And then you look at your debt and have the things in your house. And you try to figure out a way to value all of those items, to classify whether they’re marital or separate, and then after you’ve valued them, to divide them. It’s called “equitable distribution” because in North Carolina, there is a presumption that “equal” is “equitable.” Still, there are factors a court can decide, or parties can decide between them, that they don’t want to do exactly a 50-50 split. However, suppose you go to court and have a judge decide. In that case, equitable distribution will result in the parties having an equal division unless the judge recognizes one of the 13 factors as compelling.

When you sign a separation agreement, it includes property settlement. It’s standard form to state that the court will not get involved, so you have divided the property by yourselves without the court getting involved, so there will be no equitable distribution process with the court. And it’s a cumbersome process. You each have to file a complaint, answer a complaint, and file an affidavit, which has all of the issues before you, and where you each state whether you feel the property is marital or separate and what you feel it’s worth. And then you do spreadsheets, and you have pre-trials. So, the court process of equitable distribution is very time-consuming.

It’s very important not to file for an absolute divorce or not let your spouse obtain an absolute divorce without preserving the right to have the court decide spousal support and division of property. If your spouse files a complaint, and it doesn’t include division of property, and you don’t answer and make a claim for division of property, then you’ve lost the right to have the court decide that. Then, the property will be divided by title.