Other than issues dealing with children, the thorniest issue in a divorce is often the division of personal property. As much as possible, if you are able to divide your possessions amicably, you should. First, no one has a better understanding of your assets and their value than you do. Second, you should not rack up legal fees having an attorney argue over possessions that may have more emotional than financial value.
Start as early as you can! This does not mean taking the important or valuable possessions and hiding them from your estranged spouse. It means following some of the following guidelines to prepare for the division of personal property.
- Make lists and take pictures of your personal assets: Lists and pictures are a comprehensive way of inventorying your assets. Having an inventory allows you and your spouse to review the assets available for distribution. Inventories also serve as a way for parties to understand what items you can agree on and which will be at issue. Pictures can be used to illustrate whether items have been moved, have gone missing, or were inadvertently omitted from a list.
- Account for depreciation: Often, parties utilize different “accounting methods” when reviewing the value of assets depending on which party receives the item. For instance, the party getting a five year old car will use the blue book value while trying at the same time to claim that the five year old sofa is worth the same amount as the day it was purchased. The majority of your possessions have depreciated significantly since their purchase. Account for that depreciation in your internal calculation of who is getting what value. While you may feel like you are not receiving as much you would like from some of your items, provided your “accounting method” is consistent, you do not stand to lose as much as you might fear by accepting that the purchase price is not necessarily the current value, your property division will go more smoothly and you and your spouse will not spend as much in attorneys fees.
- Agree on what should be appraised: If you have items of significant value and the two of you can not agree on a value, the items should be appraised. The next question becomes what items you and your spouse think need to be appraised, who bears the cost of the appraisal, and how an appraiser is chosen. Creating a “cut off” value or a rule will help you decide which items to have appraised. For instance, agree on a dollar amount and do not have items you think fall below that dollar amount appraised. Alternatively, you can use a rule to help you decide, such as “if it should have been, or was, individually insured, have it appraised.” Laying these ground rules should help you and your spouse prevent later squabbling over which assets should be appraised. With regard to who will pay the appraiser and how he or she is picked, call your attorney. While you do not want to rack up your bill arguing about these issues, your attorney will have insight as to how appraisal costs should be divided and be able to provide you with the names of appropriate appraisers.
Adapted from the Pennsylvania Family Law Blog.
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