When you begin the difficult and stressful process of divorce, the rest of your life does not get put on hold. While you juggle choosing the best divorce attorney and dealing with the emotions of divorce, you may still be in the midst of taking care of your children, figuring out your living situation, and managing all of life’s unexpected dilemmas.

This is why it can be very easy to forget about some of the important marital assets that need to be accounted for in your divorce. You may remember larger assets such as real estate, bank accounts, cars, and other investments, but remembering the smaller ones may be just as important. Your furniture, art, antiques and collectibles all can add up to a large sum.¹

Having a knowledgeable attorney experienced in divorce matters is very crucial. The experienced attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can help you obtain the best possible outcome in your case. Let’s take a look at some of the martial assets you need to consider during your divorce…

1. Benefits from Prior Employers

Benefits from any of your employers are marital assets that must be accounted for in your divorce. These do not just include your pension plans and 401(k)s, but any stock options and deferred compensation plans. Although this may seem obvious, people going through the divorce process often overlook these assets.

2. Capital Loss Carryover

If your capital losses are greater than your capital gains, losses can be carried over to future years. Therefore, your capital losses can be a way of reducing your tax liability. If losses occurred during your marriage, it is very important that you and your attorney address them during the divorce proceeding.

3. Cemetery Plots

If you and your spouse originally decided to be buried next to each other, you may want to reconsider this during your divorce. Cemetery plots can be expensive and this issue should be addressed during your divorce.

4. Country Club, Gym and Other Memberships

Most golf clubs and gyms require initiation fees and monthly or annual dues. Even if you personally did not use these memberships, the fees, which can be very expensive, are assets that should be accounted for during a divorce. You and your attorney will need to work together to determine the value of these memberships and negotiate how they are divided with your spouse.

5. Memorabilia and Collectibles

Any memorabilia you collected can have significant value. These items can be difficult to place a value on. Any stamp collections, gold coins, art collections, antiques, and comic books have value. It is important to remember each and every item while you are negotiating a divorce settlement.

6. Gifts Received During the Marriage

Gifts given to you by other parties during your marriage are considered separate property in most cases. However, gifts received from each other during the marriage are considered community property.

Even if you think your gifts are separate property, make sure to discuss this with your attorney. Sometimes, separate property can become community property during a marriage. Your attorney will help you determine the value of these gifts and if they are indeed marital property.

7. Intellectual Property

Intellectual property includes copyrights, trademarks, and patents. You may overlook these marital assets because it did not generate much income for you during your marriage. However, there is always a chance they will become profitable after the divorce. You should make sure to include them in your divorce settlement.

8. Money Loaned to Others

Any money that you or your spouse loaned to others during the marriage is considered marital property. For example, if your spouse loaned money to a friend or family member, the money that will be paid back to your spouse is an asset that needs to be divided between you and your spouse.

9. Pets

One marital asset that you may have trouble forgetting about is your beloved pet. Who the pets are assigned to in the divorce settlement largely depends on who has a better schedule for the animal and who has shown a history of taking good care of the animal. If your pets are very important to you, your trusted family law attorney will fight to make sure your time with them is divided fairly.

10. Photographs and Other Mementos

Photos and meaningful mementos that you collected over the years are probably invaluable to you. This is why it is even more important that you do not overlook them during your divorce. With today’s technology, you should easily be able to share all of the photos with your spouse. However, if you have traditional photographs or negatives, you will need to equally share the cost of copying them.

11. Tax Refunds

It is easy to overlook tax refunds during a divorce, especially depending on what time of year it is. Your divorce attorney will make sure to keep these on your checklist of marital assets that need to be divided so you can get the money you deserve.

Call the Divorce Lawyers at Wallin & Klarich Today

Your divorce is inevitably going to be complicated. Regardless of the length of time that you were married it can be easy to overlook some of the more important valuable assets. Your experienced divorce attorney can help you remember all of these assets and reduce the stress of your divorce. Our attorneys have been successfully guiding our clients through their divorce matters for over 30 years. Let us help you today.

With offices located in Orange County, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Torrance, Riverside, West Covina, Victorville, Ventura, San Diego and Sherman Oaks, our skilled and knowledgeable attorneys are available to help you no matter where you work or live.

Call us today at (888) 749-7428 for a free phone consultation. We will get through this together.