division of marital property

The law directs judges to make equitable -not necessarily equal - divisions of marital property, which is broadly defined as all family assets acquired during the marriage.

And just a handful of states say that if adultery is at issue, a judge may, but not must, consider it a factor in the division of marital property.

Legal experts and social scientists say this is often true whether the issue is custody, sexual assault, domestic violence, the division of marital property or the awarding damages in wrongful death lawsuits.

It also hears support and custody matters, generally when these have been included in a claim for divorce or where these claims have been joined to claim seeking a division of marital property.

They are to send the division of marital property agreement (original and two copies containing the signatures of two witnesses) and population registration certificates (no older than three months) to the district court where they were registered.

They can apply to the district court for the appointment of a marital property administrator, who will then make a decision regarding what should be included in the division of marital property, how items should be valued and how they should be divided.

The one most fixed in the mind of the public, are agreements that are an attempt to affect rights in a future divorce, usually limiting or waiving alimony and/or support and the division of marital property, which includes property obtained before and after the marriage.

While the division of marital property generally is governed by state domestic relations law, any assignments of retirement interests must also comply with Federal law, namely the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code).