When you’re going through a divorce, it can be a difficult, overwhelming time. Aside from the emotions, you’re dealing with, it can be stressful attempting to divide money and belongings between you and your ex-partner. There are tried and tested formulas for dividing up money and assets. If there are children then that’s a whole other issue. And even though the relative value of sentimental possessions isn’t always great, they can become particular sticking points in a divorce agreement. This article focuses on how to divide up those personal possessions.
Divorce is a common life event to go through: in 2020, there were 103,592 divorces granted in England and Wales, a decrease of 4.5 per cent compared with 2019. Below, we explore some tips for dividing different types of possessions when you divorce.
Causes of divorce
There are different reasons why one might pursue a divorce. For wives, 47.4 per cent of divorces in 2020 were pursued because of unreasonable behaviour by the husband. Meanwhile, for husbands, the most common reason for divorce was a period of separation – this accounted for 34.7 per cent of divorces. Regardless of your reasoning, though, it’s worth attempting to dive up your belongings as smooth as possible.
Personal possessions
Personal possessions can include furniture, music collections or any other items in the house. It can be difficult to give up on something that you feel personally belongs to you but reaching an agreement can help the divorce run smoothly. Likely, you’ll both be feeling attached to certain items, so it’s worth trying to compromise. You can also ease the process by going through the house and writing down an inventory of all the items that you need to split up.
Pets
It can be extremely difficult to decide who keeps any pets you might have. Ultimately, it’s best to try and keep emotions out of it as much as possible. What’s most important is that you consider the welfare of the pets, they should go with the person who’ll have the time to look after them best. You should also avoid splitting up children and pets as best as possible.
The car
The car, as an asset, matters a lot during the divorce. You could give up the car in exchange for plenty of household possessions or vice versa.
Jewellery
If you have plenty of expensive jewellery, it’s worth getting a valuation of the set. Once you know the worth of these items, you can try and split them equitably.
Coming to an agreement
If you can come to an amicable agreement on splitting up personal possessions with sentimental value then that is always the best way. But the path of divorce doesn’t always run smoothly and if one or both parties are angry or resentful then the sentimental possessions are often the primary points of contention. Professional mediation can be a useful stepping stone to an amicable solution, while also considering the importance of establishing a financial order in divorce to address broader financial matters and ensure fairness for both parties.
Divorce lawyers
Sometimes, the divorce process can be too complex to sort out by yourselves or even through mediation. By seeking the help of experienced divorce lawyers, you can make this process run smoothly and attempt to reach an amicable solution.
Dividing your possessions following a divorce can be difficult. But by following the guide above and by hiring professional help, you should be able to put yourself in a position to move on with your life.