Ensuring you get your fair share of marital property can take up a lot of head space and cause a lot of stress when you are divorcing. The key to making things easier is remembering that your spouse also has rights and wishes just as you do. If you want to make the divorce smoother, you will need to negotiate, compromise, and perhaps use a mediator.
Aside from the financial value of an item, you’ll also need to consider its emotional or sentimental value. Some items have very little monetary value but a lot of sentimental value and achieving a fair divorce means you need to give these attention too. The following are a few examples to get you thinking about this important aspect of your divorce process.
Printed family photos
You probably do not want to look at photos of your soon-to-be ex-spouse right now, but many photos you possess may contain things you want to see and remember. Not only could they document things you did, such as going trekking in Nepal, but they may also contain images of cherished friends and family. For example, a photo of you, your spouse and your deceased grandparent. Or, pictures of you, your spouse and your children. You could opt to make copies of everything so that you each get a complete set. Or you could lay them all out and take turns picking which you want.
Mutual sentimental purchases and mutual gifts
Maybe there is a painting on your wall that you both love. Or a wooden spoon that your daughter carved when on summer camp. These belong to you both, but only one of you can keep them. How do you decide who should keep items like these? You could simply lay out all such items and take turns choosing. Or make a list of all those high sentimental but low financial value items and work through things that way to find a fair balance. Maybe one wooden spoon counts as two paintings by your then-five-year-old son.
The answers to issues like these are not always straightforward in a divorce, which is just one of the reasons why seeking legal guidance as proactively as possible after a decision to divorce is wise.