Throughout your divorce mediation sessions, you and your soon-to-be former spouse must negotiate and agree upon child custody, child support, spousal support, and lastly, asset division. While this is no easy feat, being successful at it may save you and your former spouse a lot of time, energy, and money. Without further ado, please continue reading to learn how asset division works in mediation sessions and how one of the experienced Somerset divorce mediators at the Law Office of Kisha M. Hebbon, LLC can help facilitate this process.
When you and your former spouse sit down for your scheduled mediation session, you will be expected to lay out every last marital asset and debt you share. Here, a neutral, third-party mediator will help identify which assets and debts still need to be addressed, how they can be negotiated, and finally, clarify the details you settled on. If you and your spouse are all set, a mediator will prepare a memorandum of understanding. After you and your former spouse sign it, you will submit it alongside your complaint for divorce with the New Jersey family court.
Now this is much easier said than done. That is, you may not realize just how many assets and debts you have allocated throughout your marriage until you are forced to take stock of them. For this reason alone, we urge you to seek outside assistance besides your mediator. For example, you may hire a valuation expert to determine the value of your assets. Or, a financial analyst who may advise you on the implications of your proposed settlement agreement.
Even with the help of a mediator and other financial experts, you and your former spouse may still struggle to divide your marital assets and debts during mediation. This is because all this extra aid does not mean anything if you and your former cannot see eye-to-eye on who is entitled to what. Overall, for meditation to work, you must completely agree on every last divorce-related issue.
So, if you and your spouse cannot figure out asset division in mediation, you will have to take your divorce to litigation. With this, the New Jersey family court will split up your assets based on the state’s equitable distribution law. This law holds that such division does not necessarily have to be a 50/50 split but nonetheless it must be fair and just.
To learn more about how to handle asset division in mediation sessions, please get in touch with one of the skilled Somerset County family lawyers from the Law Office of Kisha M. Hebbon, LLC. Better yet, schedule your initial consultation with our firm today.
