Monday’s blog post kicked off the topic of how to divide personal property during a divorce. Here are some more tips:
4. Create a valuation methodology: It is imperative that you bear in mind the potential difference in the replacement value of your assets and their actual resale value. While something might be insured for one amount, its “street value” may be another amount. If you are getting something appraised, find out both how much you could sell it for on the day it is appraised and how much replacing it would cost. While it seems these numbers should be the same, many times they are not. When you are accounting for how much an asset is “worth” to you, remember this distinction!
5. When you cannot agree, use a neutral mediator or arbitrator: Using a neutral third party will save you money, time and hassle. Rather than having both you and your spouse pay your attorneys to listen to you bicker back and forth about personal property, choose one party to simply make decisions regarding the division of assets. Make the arbitrator’s or mediator’s decision binding. By having a third-party make a binding decision, you are essentially giving that person the power to make decisions about your property. While you may not be happy with any or all of the mediator’s or arbitrator’s decisions this process is more expedient and less expensive than many alternatives. Binding mediation or arbitration will move the process along and will allow you to move on to other (more important) issues. This method also has the benefit of keeping the division of personalty out of the judicial system. Court fights about property tend to be very costly and annoy the Court. Remember, you are better off deciding the outcome than letting someone else.
6. Know your motivation: In most cases, there are two primary motivating factors affecting parties’ behavior as they attempt to divide their personalty; emotion and economy. While both these factors will play a role in parties’ decisions, they cannot be allowed to overwhelm your decision-making. Moderating, or at least staying attuned to, your motivations is essential. An over-emotional or overly economic approach will cause parties problems and cost money. An example of an overly emotional reaction would be one spouse attempting to claim every chair, seat, and sofa from the house. Sadly, this does happen. While the spouse that does this may feel temporarily vindicated by the knowledge that his or her ex-spouse will not be able to sit down comfortably until he or she buys some seats, this impractical approach ultimately fails. The spouse who was controlled by his or her emotions will most likely lack artwork, tables, a bed… you understand my point. By the same token, an overly economic motivation will also lead to failure. For instance, adamant refusal to negotiate with your spouse over an item because of its economic value without taking into account other significant factors will lead to a negotiations deadlock. Even if you cannot control your motivating factors, at least be aware of them! Being cognizant of your motivations will allow you to “step back” and consider whether fighting about a particular item will help or hurt you in the long run. If you can understand your spouse’s motivations regarding the division of assets you will have even greater negotiating success. Finally, if you and your spouse are at odds about an item, ask yourself whether you will care, remember or replace that item in (6) months or a year. If the answer is “no” then give it up and move on to something that really matters to you.
Adapted from the Pennsylvania Family Law Blog.
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