Oregon Property Division | OR Settling Disputes for Marital and Non-Marital Divorce Assets and Debts

When a couple gets divorced, the court has to legally revert the parties back to their living situation pre-marriage while adding the benefits incurred by both during that marriage. One common task the court performs to resolve a marriage is property division, specifically Oregon property division.

The first thing a divorcing spouse should do is seek the guidance of a licensed attorney who works in Family Law. Property division in a particular divorce be more complicated than a spouse realizes and lawyers have the proper training and experience to tell the judge what a divorcing spouse wants or needs from the property division.

Property Division Divorce Laws in Oregon

The purpose of Oregon property division laws is to make sure that marital property is allocated to each spouse in a just and proper manner, usually in a 50-50 split. Oregon marital property is divided under the considerations of Oregon Statute §107.105(f) but the trial court judge receives great discretion when converting Oregon marital property into separate Oregon divorce property.

Oregon is an equitable distribution state. This means that with regard to Oregon divorce assets, anything the spouses had before a marriage usually will not be included in Oregon divorce assets or Oregon divorce property.

What is considered Marital and Non-Marital Property?

Marital property consists of property acquired by either spouse during the marriage as well as separate items brought into a marriage that are converted into marital property.
Non-marital property is property that each spouse had before the marriage or acquired individually without including it into the marital property. This also includes property declared as separate from the marital estate under a valid agreement between the parties.

Oregon law has a presumption that both spouses contributed equally to acquisition of all property during the marriage. The court will decide which of the property is marital or non-marital property.

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 Oregon Statute §107.105(f), the court considers a number of factors in dividing assets and debt. Some of these are

Reasonable costs of the sale of assets
Tax consequences

Using statutory factors and others in case law such as the parties' financial condition, 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 equally among the spouses.
- Example 1: A joint savings account has $5,000. The court would most likely award $2,500 to each spouse.
- Example 2: A joint savings account has $5,000. One spouse contributed $4,000 and the other contributed $1,000. The amount may be divided in a 50-50 split or more balanced if the $1,000 contributor has fewer assets than the $4,000 contributor.
Retirement Plans: Divided based on the duration of the marriage at the time the benefits accrued, looking at the present value of the plan and/or survivor benefits.
- Example 1: A spouse got benefits in a retirement plan after working for 25 years and was married for 20 of those years. The ex-spouse would be entitled to 50% 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 at the date determined by the court. May be sold or given to a spouse outright.
- Example 1: A car is owned by a spouse The car may be sold with the proceeds split 50-50 or given to a spouse outright.
- Example 2: A car has a shared title. The car may be sold with the proceeds split 50-50 or 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 provided health insurance. The other spouse is in poor health and could not afford alternate health care coverage. The court may order the first spouse to continue covering that spouse for a set time and/or award money to the ailing spouse to get new 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.

Settling Disputes in a Divorce Case with Property and Asset Division

Under Oregon case law, all property must be disclosed to the court in order for it to be subject to property division. If this does not happen, neither spouse can go back and change the division order. However, a party could go back to court to get a property division award enforced.

The trial court's determinations will not be changed by a higher court unless the division was clearly unjust.

Help From an Oregon Property Divorce Lawyer

It can not be stressed enough that retaining an Oregon property divorce lawyer is key to getting the fairest and most equitable 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 and presentation to the trial judge handling the divorce.

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