What factors affect North Carolina property division after divorce?

You and your spouse have accumulated significant assets together, including your home. When the marriage ends, you likely have concerns about how to divide marital property so that you have a financial fresh start.

Review the factors that affect North Carolina marital property division before negotiating an agreement during your separation.

Defining marital property

The state categorizes assets as either marital or separate (divisible). Anything you earn or acquire before your marriage or after the separation date falls into the category of divisible property, which means your spouse will not receive a share of these funds (and vice versa). Marital property includes all assets either of you earns or acquires during the marriage, as well as debts accrued during this time.

Understanding division factors

You and your spouse can attempt to reach a property division agreement outside of court. If you cannot do so, the family court judge will divide marital property and debts based on factors that include:

• Whether you have young children together and who mainly cares for them
• Whether either of you will realize tax consequences from property division
• How long your marriage lasted
• How each of you contributed to marital property, both financially and through tasks such as housekeeping and caring for children
• Each person’s mental and physical health
• The current income, projected future income and age of each person

The state prefers a relatively equal distribution of marital property, but the judge can divert from this standard based on the above factors if a 50/50 split of assets would be unfair to either you or your spouse.