When you pursue a divorce, you and your ex-spouse must divide the property you accumulated throughout your marriage. In order to do so, you will have to take stock of everything you own.
As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, it will be critical to take a detailed inventory of your assets. That includes your marital property as well as your separate property. However, taking inventory of all of this just once may not suffice to protect your financial future.
3 times you should review your assets
As you approach the process of dividing your marital property in a North Carolina divorce, you should make sure you know exactly what you are dealing with – and that applies throughout the entire process of your divorce. That means it could be helpful to take inventory roughly three times:
- Before: Review and take note of all of the property you own together before you begin the process of divorce. This will be critical to determine what assets you must divide and how you approach negotiations.
- During: In the process of negotiating property division and other matters in your divorce, it may be worth taking stock a few times. Essentially, it is critical to pay close attention and keep track of your assets. This can help you catch any signs a spouse is moving, hiding or even dissipating assets.
- After: Once your divorce is final, then you actually have to divide your property according to the settlement you negotiated. Take an inventory yet again to ensure you and your ex-spouse adhere to the agreement.
This can be a painstaking, tedious task, to list out and track all your property. It is a lot of work, especially on top of the other issues you must address in a divorce. In many cases, it might be beneficial to work with a legal or financial professional to secure your finances and your rights during divorce.