When you get divorced, there are a lot of things to take care of. One of the most important decisions is dividing your assets and belongings. For some people, this can be a difficult process. You may feel like you don’t know how to decide who gets the cat or what to do about the family heirlooms. Here are some tips for dividing your belongings when you get divorced.

Splitting Up Your Shared Belongings

Division of shared belongings in divorce proceedings can be difficult, especially if you and your spouse don’t share the same perception of what is fair. One of the most important things to do when dividing assets is to get an accurate list of all the belongings that are being split up. This includes everything from jewelry, furniture, cars, and family heirlooms. If you’re feeling unsure about what to do with certain items, it may be best to consult a lawyer or ask for help from a friend or family member who has gone through a divorce before.

When deciding who gets certain items, it may help to have a conversation about why each person wants them. This could be difficult if there are children involved so one person may want something for sentimental reasons while the other needs it for practical purposes. Asking your kids about their preferences is another way to decide who should get certain belongings. You can also playfully let them decide by giving them some choices between different items before asking their opinion on which they would prefer.

Deciding how certain objects are split up will depend on whether they are marital property or solely owned by one spouse. Items that were purchased during or after the marriage are considered marital property and should be split evenly; items purchased prior to marriage are considered solely owned by the spouse who purchased them and should go with the person who bought them.

What to Do With the Cat

For some people, a pet is one of their children. It’s a living, breathing creature that they love and would do almost anything for. In the eyes of the law, however, a pet is just property. And that means that a decision needs to be made about who gets to keep the cat when you divorce.

Like other property, whether the pet belonged solely to one spouse prior to the marriage may clear things up. If it’s a family pet, however, the decision may be more difficult. You may need to have the court make a decision for you. You may also need to provide proof of ownership or care in order to retain ownership of your pet. This may be documents like registration paperwork or bank statements showing who paid for the bulk of the animal’s care (food, vet care, etc.).

This is why it’s so important to hire a divorce lawyer. Division of property is difficult enough when it’s an inanimate object that may hold sentimental value. When it’s a beloved pet, it’s so much harder. Your divorce lawyer can not only negotiate on your behalf to get your pet for you but can also help you find and provide the necessary documents to prove ownership.

Handling Your Family Heirlooms

It can be hard to know what to do when you get divorced. Should you split up the family heirlooms, or keep them in the family? In many cases, people will want to keep heirlooms in the family. They’ll either give them to their children or grandchildren in a will or maybe they’ll donate them to a museum or historic site in their name. Family heirlooms are often the easiest property to split up, as most people don’t try to take heirlooms from their spouses. 

Although it can be difficult to decide who gets what when dividing up the property after divorce, it is best for everyone involved if there are no hard feelings about the process of dividing personal belongings.

When you get divorced, there are a lot of things to think about, such as, who gets the cat? To maintain good relations with your spouse at this difficult time, it’s best to work together and compromise where you can. Determine what is most important for yourself and fight for those things while being willing to let go of others. Be open-minded when listening to advice from your lawyer so that he or she can help get you a better property settlement than doing it all by yourself.