Property division is certainly one of the more difficult things to accomplish. As an equitable distribution state, Tennessee law is designed to identify separate property rights to property and equitably distribute the remaining marital property. An equitable distribution does not necessarily mean equal. The court will, however, will work to achieve a fair division.

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The best method of distributing property is by agreement. You are encouraged to enter into a written marital dissolution agreement to divide your property. Unless deemed unconscionable, the court will support your agreement.

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In Tennessee, there are essentially 2 types of property Separate Property (aka non-marital property) and Marital Property.

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Separate property is not subject to division by the court and includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• All real and personal property owned by a spouse before marriage;

• Property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage;

• Income from and appreciation of property owned by a spouse before marriage;

• Property acquired by a spouse at any time by gift, bequest, devise or descent;

• Pain and suffering awards, victim of crime compensation awards, future medical expenses, and future lost wages; and

• Property acquired by a spouse after an order of legal separation where the court has made a final disposition of property.

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Marital property is any property acquired by either spouse during marriage and not excluded as separate property. All property acquired by either spouse after the marriage and before a decree of legal separation is presumed to be marital property, regardless of who has title. If no separation agreement is entered into, the court will divide any marital property without regard to fault. To divide marital property, the court will consider all relevant factors including, but not limited to, the following:

• The duration of the marriage;

• The age, physical and mental health, vocational skills, employability, earning capacity, estate, financial liabilities and financial needs of each of the parties;

• The tangible or intangible contribution by one (1) party to the education, training or increased earning power of the other party;

• The relative ability of each party for future acquisitions of capital assets and income;

• The contribution of each party to the acquisition, preservation, appreciation, depreciation or dissipation of the marital or separate property, including the contribution of a party to the marriage as homemaker, wage earner or parent, with the contribution of a party as homemaker or wage earner to be given the same weight if each party has fulfilled its role;

• Dissipation of assets means wasteful expenditures which reduce the marital property available for equitable distributions and which are made for a purpose contrary to the marriage either before or after a complaint for divorce or legal separation has been filed.

• The value of the separate property of each party;

• The estate of each party at the time of the marriage;

• The economic circumstances of each party at the time the division of property is to become effective;

• The tax consequences to each party, costs associated with the reasonably foreseeable sale of the asset, and other reasonably foreseeable expenses associated with the asset;

• The amount of social security benefits available to each spouse; and

• Such other factors as are necessary to consider the equities between the parties.

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For more information concerning separate property and marital property division in Tennessee, contact us and schedule a consultation. We are here to help navigate you through the Tennessee property division process.