How Will the Court Divide the Marital Property?
The property settlement is final once a divorce decree is entered. A property settlement can be challenged within one year of the entry of the decree, but only where one party deceived the other, or threatened the other with harm to force an agreement, or where there was a mistake. (Support payments may be changed in the future, however.)
The standard for how to split up property in Iowa is that it must be divided ?equitably.? This means it must be fair under the circumstances. Equitable does not always mean each party will get half of the property, unless giving each half is the fairest solution after considering all factors.
The Court will consider more than just income and expenses to create a fair division of property. Listed below are some of the areas the court considers when dividing the property:
- The length of the marriage.
- The age and physical and emotional health of the parties.
- How much each party contributes to the marriage, including what each party pays towards homemaking and child care services.
- The property brought to the marriage by each party.
- How much one party contributes to the education, training or increased earning power of the other.
- How much each party is able to earn.
- How desirable it is for the party with custody to live in the family home.
The court will also consider other economic factors for each party. For example, a pension fund brought into the marriage may end up being an asset to be divided. Gifts received by either party should continue to be separate property unless it would be unfair to consider them as such. Gifts given to the parties jointly are subject to division, just like all of the other marital assets.
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