Reaching an agreement outside of court with your spouse can make the divorce process go much more smoothly. When it comes to dividing property, though, it can be tough to agree on everything.
Yahoo explains there are some steps you can take to make property division easier and more agreeable for both of you.
Take inventory
Before you begin discussions about dividing property, you should take an inventory of your assets and debts. Make sure you both list out everything you own and owe. You will need to know about everything that you will divide. It can make things much easier because you will know you have covered everything and did not leave something out that could cause issues down the road. In addition, an inventory allows you to list values so you can make a fair division.
Focus on fair
While you may want to divide everything equally, that is not always possible. You should focus on a fair division instead. Consider your financial situations as singles when doing this. You want to try to make it so you both end up on equal footing after the divorce if possible. Also, make sure you do not include separate property in this calculation because the court will not consider it either.
Set goals
It can help if you set a goal date for when you want to have an agreement in place. This can make it easier to move through the process without too much hassle. You will know there is a deadline and that you need to make deals, which can help to avoid stalling or situations where you do not want to communicate. Also, knowing this process will not last forever can be very comforting.
