After separating many couples struggle with dividing the assets and debts of the marriage. In North Carolina, a judge has the authority to divide marital property if the spouses cannot agree. Marital property generally consists of the assets and debts the parties acquired after they married and before they separated. All other property would be the separate property of each spouse. However, this simple definition does not address all circumstances surrounding the property of the spouses. For example, what about an item purchased after marriage with money one of the spouses had before the marriage? What about an item of separate property that

increased in value over the course of the marriage? What about an item purchased before marriage but paid for in installments during the marriage? These and many other questions can be answered by an experienced attorney.

When a judge divides marital property between the spouses, under the law he or she must initially assume that an equal division is fair. The judge can consider certain factors and make an unequal division if the judge in his discretion thinks that would be fair to both spouses. However, the factors the judge considers are mostly financial in nature; a judge cannot consider the fault or conduct of either spouse in dividing their property.