Dividing property can be complex during any divorce. This is especially true for high-asset divorces, where people may control significant financial assets. It can be very complicated to track down all of these assets and decide what the law says about how they should be divided.
As a general rule, though, assets are divided into two main categories: Marital assets and separate assets. Couples do not need to split up their separate assets, which they own personally. They just have to divide their marital assets. This can be a bit more complicated and challenging during a same-sex divorce than it would be for an opposite-sex divorce.
Changing marriage laws
Over the decades, marriage and divorce laws have changed. Same-sex marriage used to be illegal, for instance, even in California. Some couples would cohabitate in long-term relationships, but they would not technically get married because it wasn’t legally possible.
Today, of course, same-sex marriage is legal in California and every other state.
But say that a couple cohabitated, got married, and is now getting divorced. Do all of the assets from prior to their marriage count as separate assets rather than marital assets? Such a designation would typically be true for traditional marriages, but the same-sex couple may have wanted to get married and simply found it impossible. Does that mean they have to regard assets that they bought together before their wedding – like a family home or a business – as marital assets that they have to divide?
Each case is unique, but you can see how complicated this is likely to get. As you work your way through a divorce, be sure you understand all of your legal options.
