When thinking about dividing property, many people consider the most common, significant assets. This includes everything from their home to their bank account and their furniture to their vehicles.
However, North Carolina law requires divorcing spouses to divide all marital property, not just the most important or visible assets. Individuals must make sure they find all of their property.
Remember these assets must be divided too
There are several assets that often get overlooked in the event of a divorce. These frequently include:
- Retirement accounts and annuities: Dividing these assets can be a complex and involved process. Yet, these assets are not often at the top of the list for things to address. It is more common for younger individuals to overlook these assets. After all, retirement is not something they actively plan for yet.
- Stocks: These assets are subject to the ever-changing market. That makes them tricky to value – it also makes it easy to overlook the proper way to divide these assets. However, divorcing spouses must address stock and investment ownerships.
- Credit card rewards: It is common to worry about how to manage credit card accounts and protect one’s credit score after a divorce. However, the points and cashback rewards earned on a credit account are also valuable assets.
- Airline miles: Similar to credit card rewards, spouses must also determine who earned Frequent Flyer miles or airline rewards and divide them accordingly.
- Collections: A spouse may have a grand collection of anything from first edition books to action figures. In some cases, collections can carry significant value. If the spouse collected such items during the marriage, their value could be marital property.
- Season tickets and memberships: These could include season tickets to sporting events or the theater, as well as memberships to private gyms, zoos or country clubs. Spouses must discuss the investment they made into these memberships and how they might move forward with them.
It is critical to account for all assets in a divorce. However, the division of these assets requires individuals to obtain an accurate valuation first. This is an important part of helping spouses separate their financial lives and ensure fairness.