Milwaukee Divorce Attorneys for Marital Property Division
Asset Division in Divorce in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties
If a settlement cannot be reached between the parties and their Milwaukee divorce attorneys as to how the marital assets are to be divided, then the court will divide them with the presumption that they are to be divided on a 50/50 basis. Marital assets are also referred to as marital property. Marital assets can include a home, cars, furniture, business owned by the parties, jewelry, art, investments, and retirement accounts and 401k's. Any marital asset, whether purchased before or during the marriage, will be deemed marital property, even if it was put only in one party's name. For example, even if your name does not appear on the title to a vehicle purchased by your spouse, you are entitled to half that marital asset.
Wisconsin Marital Property Laws
There are exceptions to this rule. Any property acquired by inheritance or gifted to one party can be excluded from division. However, if the value of any of the non-marital property increases during the marriage, the increase in value may be considered marital property. If a spouse chose to use non-marital funds for a common purpose, like buying a home, that money will often be considered marital property. Also, any property that was excluded by a pre-nuptial agreement will not be included if that is fair at the time of divorce.
The Judge can alter the marital property division based upon the following factors:
- Length of marriage
- Property brought into the marriage by either party
- Whether either party has substantial assets not subject to division
- Contribution of each party to the marriage
- Age and physical and emotional health of each party
- The contribution of either party to the education, training, or increased earning power of either party
- The earning capacity of each party
- Desirability of awarding the family home to the party having the greater periods of physical placement
- Other economic circumstances of the parties
- Tax consequences to each party
- Any written agreements between the parties
- Such other factors the court deems relevant
Your Marital Property Rights
The value of many divorce marital assets will be obvious, such as a bank account. Others may require a professional appraiser. Many times one party will attempt to hide marital assets or undervalue them in an attempt to cheat the other person out of their fair share. At John T. Fields & Associates, we have over 25 years of experience in making sure our clients are not taken advantage of when dealing with dividing assets in divorce. Our Milwaukee divorce lawyers are willing to do the hard work it takes to get the result you deserve.
Contact Our Milwaukee Marital Property Division Attorneys
For more information on marital property division or to schedule an appointment with an experienced Milwaukee divorce lawyer for property division, please contact our Milwaukee family and divorce law firm.
John T. Fields & Associates, LLC
740 Pilgrim Pkwy., Suite 100
Elm Grove, WI 53122
262-782-8322
Fax: 262-565-2424
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250 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1800
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414-771-9500
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