Upon a divorce in Georgia, martial assets are subject to equitable division. This means that the assets are divided equitably/fairly under the circumstances, but not necessarily equally. Thoughpeople usually think of bank accounts, retirement accounts, cars and houses as being divided in a divorce, personal property (such as clothes, furniture, jewelry, etc.) must be divided as well.
Believe it or not, dividing personal property is an issue that can make even the simplest divorce into a highly contested one. If the parties do not have a lot of money, for example, they mayfight tooth and nail over furniture or even kitchen utensils. If lawyers are involved and must help the parties negotiate over every item in the marital home, the cost of the divorce will bedriven up significantly.
If you think dividing personal property may be a hot button issue in your divorce, it will likely help to sit down with your spouse and make an itemized list of all personal property in thehouse. You may find that you don’t even want the same items. The more you can narrow down the contested items before involving your lawyers the less time and money it will take to work everythingout.
Keep in mind that, in Georgia, pets are considered personal property – they are subject to equitable division, rather than the best interest standard used for child custody. Therefore, if it isvery important to you to keep your dog after the divorce, you may have to give on other personal property in order to make that happen.