Today we are talking about another aspect of our tips for selling a home during divorce. If you are getting a divorce in the state of Kansas, whether or not you plan to sell the house, the first thing you need to do is decide how to divide your property and assets.
What Is Community Property?
Many States, have something called community property. Under community property rules anything acquired during marriage is considered community property. Married couples share community property belongings equally.
Again, community property is defined as anything acquired during marriage, and includes things such as a 401k, stocks, bonds, rental property, or furniture.
Because Kansas has no state community property laws, Kansas courts will determine a “fair” marital property division between divorcing parties. For the most part, courts consider each party getting about half of the jointly owned property as fair. Having said that, a court could decide that an unequal property split is fair. This could happen if one spouse alleges some fault on the part of the other spouse. However, If both spouses are able to create their own agreement regarding property division, courts will generally accept their agreement. When you are getting a divorce, the best thing you can do is work with your spouse to determine who will get what. Even though both people have an equal claim of many items, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything will be divided equally.
Many times the court will look at who is at fault for the divorce and who is the primary “breadwinner”. They also consider which parent becomes the primary caretaker of any children. All of these factors help determine how a Kansas court divides marital property in a divorce.
What Is Separate Property?
Separate property includes anything acquired before marriage, but sometimes also includes inherited property, gifted items, gifted property, personal injury claims, and anything you buy and deed as sole and separate property while married. This property is not normally subject to division by the court.
Below, we explore each of these separate property items.
1. Inherited Property
If one spouse inherits a property solely in their name, it is considered separate property by the state of Kansas.
2. Gifted Item Or Property
If one spouse is gifted an item from the other, such as wedding rings or watches for example, it is separate property.
3. Personal Injury Claims
Was one spouse injured during the marriage and receive a claim?
In this case, the property and future awards belongs solely to the injured party that received the claim.
4. Anything You Buy And Deed As Sole And Separate Property
When married, it’s still possible to buy something and seem it sole and separate property.
However, both parties must agree that the item was purchased separately and solely for one spouse.
For more information regarding how to sell your house quickly in a divorce, check out our other posts on the topic, or call us for a no-obligation quote on your Kansas house.
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