The outcome of your divorce can shape your finances for a long time to come. Yet, there’s more than money involved when you decide to dissolve your marriage. As you well know, emotions can be entangled in the process, making it more difficult to find a way out of your marriage that leaves you feeling safe and secure for the next chapter of your life. This emotionality can also make it hard to figure out what to do with assets of sentimental value.
How should you handle assets of sentimental value in your divorce?
Hopefully, you and your spouse will be able to negotiate a fair division of these assets. But if that’s not a realistic option, then you must figure out just how hard you want to fight for them. Here are some factors to take into account as you consider that:
- Is the asset in question part of the marital estate or can you argue that it’s individually owned?
- How many financial assets must you give up to secure the asset of sentimental value?
- Can the asset in question be copied or otherwise replicated so that you and your spouse can find a way to keep it?
- Are there other assets that are important to your spouse but that you’re willing to forego in exchange for the sentimental asset?
- Do you want to use the time, energy, and expense to litigate over the asset if you can’t negotiate resolution with your spouse?
These are all questions that you should answer. And keep in mind that weaponizing sentimental assets against your spouse probably isn’t going to be helpful to your position. So, try to be more strategic in how you approach this issue.
Don’t lose out in your property division
You have a lot to lose in the property division process. That’s why you have to go into it with a well thought-out strategy that focuses on what you need and want, what your spouse seeks, and how the law applies to your circumstances. Only then can you rest assured that you’ve done what you can to position yourself for a successful outcome and to adequately prepare yourself for the next stage of your life.