On a very basic level, everything acquired BEFORE the marriage is NON-Marital Property and is not subject to division.  Everything acquired DURING the marriage is marital property–the exceptions being inheritance or gift, but even those have limitations.

Pursuant to the statute, each party is entitled to an “equitable share” of the marital assets–notice it does not say FAIR.  Nothing in the divorce act is “fair”.  You’ll be much less discontent if you remove that word from your vocabulary for a while.

What is an Equitable Share? Well, like most things in a divorce scenario, it depends.  Is there a large disparity in income levels? Education levels?  Does one party have a large non-marital estate?  Does one party have a greater abilty to acquire assets in the future?  How much do each of you “need” to maintain a lifestyle?  Is maintenance (alimony) being paid?  All these specific facts of your case have to be considered and weighed.  There is no one answer and if you listen to your buddy brag about not paying maintenance, ask  him who got the house?  Or if your girlfriend is bragging about how much maintenance she’s getting, ask her–who got the majority of equity from the house?  I guess what I’m saying is that all the ingredients in our divorce pie have to get divided, equitably.

I’m more than happy to talk with you, please call for a no-obligation, confidential consultation, e-mail me mmw@divorcelawyerdupage.com) or leave a comment on the Page for Comments.