Military Divorce in Arizona

Two types for purposes of divorce; either community which must be split equally if acquired during the marriage or sole and separate which belongs to the person and is not subject to being split.

That depends on the date of marriage and the date your business began. Spouses may each be entitled to 50% of a business begun during the marriage. If you were married after you started the business, your spouse may have a lien for the increased value of the business during the marriage.

You can divide these assets in a variety of ways as long as all property acquired during the marriage is divided equally. For instance, for the marital home, one of you can buy the other’s equity and remain living in the house or you can sell the home and split the net equity.

Debts are split 50 -50 unless the parties make some other negotiation.

You and your spouse may decide this for yourselves, but is important to note that Arizona is a community property state. In accordance with Arizona Revised Statute §25-211, community property is all property acquired during the marriage by the efforts of either party through the date of service of the Petition for Dissolution. The court presumes that each spouse is entitled to 50% of the assets acquired during marriage. Also, the courts generally seek to divide debt equitably in a divorce case. This does not automatically mean that each spouse will have 50% of the debt assigned to them. The court will take into consideration the spouse’s income, ability to pay debts and issues of waste of community property assets.

Quite possibly, but while disclaimer deeds are valid, there can be suspect issues. Disclaimer deeds make it look like you were trying to cheat your spouse out of the house. A court will want to know if she was represented by counsel and how much she understood about that she was doing. And again, there is the equitable lien issue as outlined above.

No, because although the temporary injunction is not in place, you are intending to file and it is not fair to take all the money. You may take half of the money and this should not cause any problems in case you have to explain this to a judge.

During the divorce process, the court will usually attempt to keep the things the way they presently are when it comes to the day-to-day operations of a family business. A business valuation expert can assess the value of the business during the pendency of the divorce matter. The court, with the input from the business valuation expert, will determine the value of the family business. The spouse that is ultimately awarded the business may be required to pay the other spouse that individual’s share of the business. That amount is normally one-half of the value assigned to the family owned business. You should consult an attorney for this matter.

The house most likely remains your sole and separate property but your spouse has an equitable lien on the house for the community effort put into the house during the marriage that increased its value. You may want to consult an attorney.

You can agree that the party living in it pays for everything under a certain amount such as $100. Any other repairs are split 50-50 and can be reimbursed at the sale. It might be wise to purchase a home warranty to prevent any unexpected expenses.

Yes, it is. That means that anything such as an affair is irrelevant.

Anything acquired during the marriage is split 50-50. Sometimes, a QDRO (qualified domestic relations order) is required by your certain plan to split the assets.

Yes, there is case law that explains this in detail.

Sole and separate property is not split. Items you were gifted,  received by will or device or property you owned prior to marriage remains your sole and separate property.

It depends on the facts. If they were purchased with money earned during the marriage, they might be considered community property.

The house is community property and the spouse who made the down payment most likely “gifted” the property to the other spouse.

The stocks you had prior to marriage are your sole and separate property. The stocks that you purchased with community funds are community property.

According to Arizona Revised Statute, section 25-211, generally anything that a married couple accumulates during the marriage is considered community property, that is, both spouses own an undivided share of the whole. Exceptions to this general principle include those assets acquired prior to the marriage, by gift, devise (by a will) or descent (inheritance). Because the Arizona courts start with a strong presumption that anything acquired during marriage is a community item, the spouse claiming a particular item is not community property has the burden of proving otherwise.

Usually jewelry given, gifted to you, your sports equipment, your personal electronics, clothing, and whatever you owned prior to marriage. Also, anything you owned prior to marriage and anything you inherited is your sole and separate property.

This might be considered gifted to him and commingled with community funds. If you can trace the amount, you can have it returned to you. A fair way to handle this is to allow you to get your lump sum deposit back. If there is an issue of commingling, such as you putting other community money into the account, it is discretionary with the judge. Let’s assume that you inherited $100,000 and put it in an account and never did anything else with that account. You should be able to consider it sole and separate and it should be awarded to you.