Dividing up the assets of the marriage is one of the most important tasks that the parties have in a divorce. It also happens to be one of the most complicated. In Texas, judges use the community property standard. This means that all property and assets the couple own are owned equally, regardless of which spouse earns the income.
Although the assets are divided in a 50/50 split, all of the assets need to be valued. Other factors the judge may consider when determining alimony and asset division include how much each spouse’s income is, how much each spouse contributed to the marriage, what their standard of living was, and what each spouse’s future earning potential is.
Valuing Assets
In order for the judge to make these decisions about property division accurately, they must know what all the different property is worth. In many cases, this is a simple enough process. Valuing a bank account is as simple as looking at the balance sheet. Even something like a car is easy enough to value. Cars are bought and sold often enough that determining the fair market value of the car is mostly about research. There are other assets that are tougher to value. These include unique assets, and assets that have rapidly shifting values.
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