5 marital 'assets' to divide during a divorce

When it comes to property division in a divorce, most people are surprised to learn that the following are considered joint property.

A few hundred thousand frequent flyer miles can be very valuable, and when they're earned during a marriage, the question of who gets them may arise. For soon-to-be-former spouses who travelled extensively, frequent flyer miles can equate to hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars in air travel. Don't let these be forgotten.

When going through a divorce, many people never even consider the fact that their furry friend could be taken away from them. Sadly, it happens all too often. If a decision isn't reached by a couple themselves, it's often the courts that decide ownership of a pet. These little friends will usually be considered a form of property, so it may be necessary for a pet lover to give up something if they want to hold onto Fido.

While this wouldn't apply as much to a couple who downloads movies and music illegally, those who like to stay within the realm of copyright law could have an issue. Most media releases, whether video or music, have a copyright that legally prevents the sharing of the content. This means that only one person gets the legal versions of these downloads.

Just imagine a music library with just 100 CDs and 50 movies or the equivalent in digitally streaming files. If each of these pieces of art cost $10 a piece, that's $1,500 in digital property. Of course, most individuals have collections far more extensive than this, so for a couple who obeys copyright law, digital property can become a real issue in divorce.

Many people going through divorce get hit hard with the fact that their company may be divisible during a divorce. After all, it is an asset, and if profits were earned during a marriage, they may be up in the air during these stressful legal proceedings. In reality, anyone who owns a company would be foolish to not have an attorney help protect their holdings.

So you enjoy collecting rare coins or art, and you continued this hobby during your marriage. Sadly, you may have opened the collection up to being divided in a divorce. A dream catcher or T-shirt collection might not have any place in a divorce, but when it comes to art, coins, cars or any other collectible with significant value, there's a chance that the courts could divide this value between the spouses.