We are often asked about property division in Georgia, the courts will divide marital property and debt equitably. Marital property and debts are everything that was acquired during the marriage, whether it is a toaster, a retirement account, a house or credit card debt. The name the account is in or the name in which the property is titled in is generally irrelevant when determining whether something is marital property. The exceptions to this rule are gifts or inheritances. Gifts or inheritances are separate property and not subject to equitable division if they are kept separate. If they are comingled, meaning deposited into a joint account or spent on marital assets such the marital residence, then they become marital property and may be divided by the court. Inter-marital gifts, a necklace for valentines’ day for example, can be considered marital property and may be divided by the court.
This brings us to equitable property division which is just a synonym for fair. The court will divide all marital assets and debts in a manner that it sees as fair. If you have been separated for a long period of time, the court might not believe that it is fair to make you split debts or savings that have accrued during that period of separation. Whether the court uses the date of separation or the date of divorce as the basis for dividing assets and debts is a decision the court will make based on what the court sees as fair.
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