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Divorce not only deals with the separation of two
people, but it also is concerned with the partition
of the involved property they shared in the time
when they were married. This is where the process of
property division steps in. Property division
answers the looming questions of separated couples
-- “what do I get to keep” and “how much money will
remain for me?”
Usually, a Canadian divorce court presides over
property division procedures. How does the court go
about the process of dividing property, and on what
basis does it determine what each party would have?
The first basic scheme is known as community
property. In most states, the whole property
belonging to a married individual is classified to
be community property, meaning that property is
owned evenly by the two individuals concerned, or a
separate property belonging to one spouse.
During the divorce process, community property
usually is partitioned evenly between the two
spouses. In conjunction to this, the two spouses can
secure their own separate property.
Moving on, the second
basic scheme is known as equitable distribution. In
this scheme, assets are partitioned fairly, not
equally. In practice, one-thirds of the divided
assets will be given to the spouse with lower income
and the remaining two-thirds will be given to the
spouse who earns more. Furthermore, hiding assets to
avoid property division is considered as illegal. It
should also be noted that the said principles
likewise apply to the debts which the couple has.
Finally, although you can proceed with property
division on your own, it is still favorable on your
part to seek legal assistance from a Canadian
divorce lawyer to ensure that you make the right
moves.
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