Kentucky Property Division | KY Settling Disputes for Marital and Non-Marital Divorce Assets and Debts

Once a couple gets divorced, all assets and debt from the marriage must be sorted out by the courts. Legally speaking, the courts must turn the 1 household that existed during the marriage into the 2 separate households of each former spouse. Among the many factors to be considered, a universal one is property division, specifically Kentucky property division.

A Family Law attorney is an important resource for any divorcing spouse. Property division laws can be confusing, every divorce case is different and lawyers have the proper training/experience to tell the judge what a divorcing spouse wants or needs from the property division.

Property Division Divorce Laws in Kentucky

The purpose of Kentucky property division laws is to make sure that marital property is allocated to each spouse equitably. Kentucky marital property is divided under the considerations of Kentucky Statute §403.190(1) but the trial court judge receives broad discretion when converting Kentucky marital property into separate Kentucky divorce property.

Kentucky is an equitable distribution state. This means that with regard to Kentucky divorce assets, anything the spouses acquired pre-marriage usually will not be included in Kentucky divorce assets or Kentucky divorce property. The only property that comes into the court's distribution is that which is legally classified as property of the marriage subject to Kentucky Statute §403.190(2).

What is considered Marital and Non-Marital Property?

Marital property consists of all items acquired during the marriage by either spouse as well as separate items that are brought into a marriage and converted into marital property. All property acquired during the marriage before a decree of legal separation is presumed to be marital property under Kentucky Statute §403.190(3).

Non-marital property is property that is listed as an exemption under Kentucky Statute §403.190(2). Some examples of non-marital property are:

Property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent during the marriage and the income derived therefrom unless there a spouse performed significant activities which contributed to the increase in value of said property and the income earned therefrom
Any property classified as separate under an agreement between the parties
Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation
The increase in value of property acquired pre-marriage to the extent that such increase did not result from the efforts of the parties during marriage

Dividing Assets and Debt

After the court decides which property is available for distribution, the next step is property valuation. The final step is the allocation of marital property.

Under Kentucky Statute §403.190(1), the court considers a number of factors in dividing assets and debt. Some of these are:

The marriage's length
The value of the property allocated to each spouse
The parties' economic circumstances
The parties' contributions to the marriage

Using statutory factors, judges decide how a marriage's assets should be divided. Here is a list of the most common property items and the most common allocation scheme used.

Cash: Divided equitably among the spouses.
- Example 1: A joint savings account has $5,000. The court would most likely award some of the money to each spouse.
- Example 2: A joint savings account has $6,000. One spouse contributed $4,000 and the other contributed $2,000. The amount may be divided 50-50 or may be more balanced if the $2,000 contributor has fewer assets than the $4,000 contributor.
Retirement Plans: The classification of this as marital property is up to the court and applies equally to each party.
- Example 1: A spouse got benefits in a retirement plan after working for 25 years and was married for 20 of those years. If the retirement plan is included as marital property, the ex-spouse would be entitled to a portion of the retirement plan that was acquired during the marriage.
- Example 2: A spouse has an unvested retirement plan. No division takes place until the plan is payable to the spouse who has it.
Vehicles: Divided based on the values as determined by the court. May be sold or given to a spouse outright.
- Example 1: One spouse owns a car. The car may be sold with the proceeds to be given to a poorer spouse or the car may be given to a spouse outright.
- Example 2: A sailboat has a shared title. The sailboat may be sold with the proceeds divided between each spouse or the boat may be given to a poorer spouse.
Insurance: Determined based upon each spouse's health, availability of alternate insurance and premium payments from marital income.
- Example 1: One spouse has covered the other under employer health insurance. The other spouse is in poor health and could afford alternate health care coverage. The court may order the first spouse to continue covering that spouse until that spouse gets alternate health coverage.
- Example 2: One spouse has a life insurance policy where the ex-spouse is to get survivor benefits. If marital income was used to make payments on the insurance, the spouse may be entitled to a portion of the benefits or the court may order the ex-spouse to continue to get survivor benefits.

Settling Disputes in a Divorce Case with Property and Asset Division

If a spouse is not complying with the order or you are unhappy with some aspect of the property division, you may go back to the trial court and seek enforcement or modification of the order. The court will then decide how to proceed.

However, the trial court's determinations will not be changed on appeal unless there was clear evidence of abuse of discretion. This is extremely difficult to prove.

Help From a Kentucky Property Divorce Lawyer

It can not be stressed enough that retaining a Kentucky property divorce lawyer is key to getting the fairest result in the property division phase of a divorce. The lawyer can provide professional guidance, keep you informed of likely outcomes and help you present the best arguments to the trial judge handling the divorce.

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