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Equitable distribution - A justice through law
By Jakob Jelling The statute of equitable distribution was adopted in 1971, which put forward the law of equal right over the marital property for both the husband and wife. This law introduced the theory of being equal partners in marriage regarding the property. Equitable simply implies to justice dictated by reason, and a natural sense of what is fair to all. The general law and meaning of equitable distribution is equal distribution. To make it clearer, the right of ownership over the assets or property acquired during the marriage is the same for both the husband and wife. This law varies with various states in the United States. But when talked about equitable distribution states, a just and reasonable distribution of the asset (amount more or less to 50%) is offered to both the clients. In equitable distribution, the resources are analyzed in three stages. The first part is classification were the court looks for the property that are suitable for equitable distribution and is within General Statutes Section § 46b-81. The second stage is valuation – which determines the value of the property with most suitable method, and the third stage is the distribution. Equitable distribution has more flexibility, but harder to foretell the outcome since a wide range of factors are weighed accordingly. The court of law is ought to begin with the explanation that the marital property will be distributed equally, but there are justifying situations were more percentage of the properties has been awarded, which is recognized by the statute. Some of the factors that may lead to unequal distribution include financial circumstances, span of marriage, the desire to retain the marital home for the dependent child, or the destruction, waste or dissipation that would have caused after filing the petition. The various factors which are given equitable distribution are earning separate properties were one of the spouses have greater value than the other, age and health of the spouses, the responsibility of the children, and when only one of the spouses has been doing all the work to take over the property. Then one of the key point is that only the marital property is distributed, the assets earned either through gifts or possessed prior to marriage is not considered in this deal. If the spouses have earned debt during their marriage it is also placed for distribution, but will be according to the annual income of the parties or as ordered by the court. After the distribution of all the assets and liabilities, the court has to figure out the judgment. Here the court gives out the order to pay the amount either as a lump sum or through installment. One of the other documents to be written, whether the distribution is equal or unequal, is the findings and the clear identification of both marital and non-marital assets. Equitable distribution is anyway not an easy task in the community. Finally, the court can order or make use of the procedure of alimony to equalize the inequity that may result after the distribution.
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