Dissolving a marriage can have a drastic impact on a person’s finances no matter what his or her net worth may be. For this reason, it is imperative that people who are contemplating divorce have a good idea about what will happen to their assets during the marital dissolution process. Here is a glimpse at what they can expect during the divorce process in Texas.
The marital estate of a couple includes assets such as real estate, investments, debts and cars that the two parties accumulated while married. Because Texas is a community property state, all of these assets and debts must be divided equally during the divorce process — or 50/50. Only a handful of states following this property division principle, whereas most states divide marital property in a manner that a judge considers to be equitable, or fair. In these other states, the division of property may not necessarily be down the middle.
A judge will divide a couple’s property for them if the two parties cannot agree on how to divide their property themselves. However, if the two divorcing spouses are on the same page in this area, they can simply put together their own asset distribution agreement. This agreement essentially spells out who will receive which asset and who will assume responsibility for which debt.
The best-case scenario during a divorce proceeding is for two people to come to an agreement on how to split their assets through negotiation or mediation. This is because these types of out-of-court proceedings tend to be less stressful than going through traditional divorce litigation. Still, in either situation, attorney in Texas will push for the best outcome for the client given the circumstances surrounding the divorce.