All the things in your home during a divorce matter are subject to claim and division. In many cases, people find a way to split it up among themselves. There is a very good reason for this – the cost of having attorneys involved oftentimes is more than the total value of the property in the home. Many people do not own Van Gogh paintings or Hope Diamonds. Instead, their possessions consist of everyday furniture with perhaps a few more expensive possessions such as pieces of artwork, fine rugs, a coin collection acquired during the marriage or let’s say the purchase of expensive lawn equipment.
In most cases, if an agreement cannot be reached, in a New Jersey divorce process, the litigants can attend mediation and resolve their differences via the mediation process. With complex division of high-worth possessions, the litigants can also hire an attorney to serve as an arbitrator who will decide who gets to keep which possessions, which is oftentimes a much faster process than litigating the same through the court system.
When extensive personal property exists, your attorneys often retain appraisers who inventory entire house contents. This is expensive but at times the only solution in contentious divorces.
Items owned before the marriage – a ring from your grandmother or a baseball card collection from let’s say a dad – are off the table and not divided.
It is always best to work out the division of the house contents to save on attorney fees and avoid litigation.
