Who gets what is always an issue in divorce.  Mississippi Courts use a concept known as Equitable Distribution – which means things are to be divided fairly, but not necessarily equally.  Now, more often than not it is close to an equal division.  So what is stuff?  For the purposes of this post, I am referring to personal property.  Furniture, electronics, utensils, personal effects – Stuff!

The Court will allow the parties to agree to any division that they can mutually agree upon.  Barring that, the Court may also employ the “Two List Method.”  One party makes 2 list of everything in the home, “equally divided,” and the other party gets to pick which complete list of items they want.  The party that made the lists gets the list of items not picked by the other.  Courts think this is a fair way to do it.

But, what if my family gave me that dinette set?  The Court will take into consideration if the property is marital property or not, but by and large anything acquired during the course of the marriage is marital.  And, anything used, or “commingled,” by the family can lose its separate status and become a marital asset.  Now this does not mean that he is going to get Grandma’s antique China Buffet, but it does mean that a portion of the value could be deemed marital and there could be a set-off through other means.  He could get both couches, instead.

Who gets the stuff?  Usually it’s somewhat of a balancing act.  Each party receives their own respective personal effects and the parties are usually able to agree as to who gets what of the Stuff.

Thompson Law Firm, pllc    Matthew@wmtlawfirm.com    (601) 850-8000