Divorce Mediation for Property Division/Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko
Dividing Your Property in Mediation
Mediation is a good way to resolve disputes involving property division.
This is especially true if you have more debts than assets!
Community Property
California is 1 of 9 states with the onerous “community property” law, which states all assets and debts acquired during marriage is community.
I am an avid proponent of prenups, because I think community property is unfair.
If you married without a prenuptial agreement, division of property in the divorce could be a time-consuming, frustrating and expensive matter.
The Law and Mediation
In mediation, you and your partner decide whether or not you want the law the apply.
Example: In a 10-month marriage, Husband racked up $7,800 of credit card debt. This is community debt because it was acquired during the marriage. However, regardless of the law, husband and wife both agree this debt should NOT be community.
If you both agree, then you can assign it in whole to the husband.
In Court, this would not happen. Because in Court, if you cannot agree, the Judge must follow the law.
Mediation allows divorcing spouses to privately negotiate their divorce terms instead of leaving these decisions solely in the hands of a judge.
100% Control Over Your Assets
Mediation grants both of you control over your finances. You do NOT have to pay lawyers $500+ per hour to divide your assets.
In Court, if you cannot agree on who gets the house, the Judge may force you to sell it. In mediation, maybe one party wants to keep the house because there is a minor child. The parties can agree that they will co-own and stay in the house until the child is an adult. This is a Duke order.
Mediation is more flexible in terms of how a couple can arrange to divide their community property.
The final result may not necessarily be exactly 50/50, but if you can reach a mutually agreeable outcome, you both win.
Identifying, Characterizing, and Valuing
Mediation also allows more flexibility when it comes to the identifying, characterizing, and valuing community property in a divorce.
Perhaps you both agree that the businesses started during the marriage are worthless, and instead full of debt. Why spend $100,000+ on forensic accountants and lawyers? Or the drum set that you don’t play but your wife does? Why fight over that?
Privacy
Another benefit to mediation is privacy. When Kris and Bruce Jenner Divorced, their assets weren’t on display for the whole world to see.
ALL celebrities should utilize mediation! Keep all of your finances under wraps.
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