Marriage dissolution is an expensive financial transaction that can rock your stability for years or even decades to come. This is especially true in community property states like Arizona, where your marital assets will be equally divided with your spouse.
What you can do to protect your assets
The question then becomes what can you do to protect your assets. Here are some of the most important steps to be taken to ensure a fair division of assets:
- Identify individually owned property that has not, in some fashion, been converted to a marital asset. These assets should be kept somewhere safe, and you should be prepared to argue why they are individually owned and therefore exempt from the property division process.
- Avoid commingling assets so that you can retain your individually owned property.
- Take inventory of all marital assets. This should include everything from bank accounts to furniture and kitchen items. This list will ensure that you receive your half of marital assets.
- Make sure that you’re securing bank accounts so that your spouse doesn’t clean them out. Be careful here, though, because you don’t want to cause any trouble, so make sure that you talk to your bank and your attorney about how to safely secure an account without running afoul.
- Don’t agree to anything without speaking to your attorney first, as sometimes individuals try to convince their spouse to sign off on post-nuptial agreement and other divorce agreements that cause a lopsided property distribution.
A legal ally may prove beneficial
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to property division. That’s why it’s oftentimes wise for divorcing individuals to discuss their circumstances with an experienced attorney who can guide them through the marriage dissolution process and assist them in developing the legal strategies that are necessary to protect their assets. If you could benefit from that kind of help, then we encourage you to research your representation options and settle on the one that is right for you.