Practice Areas

Property Division

Marital Property Division Attorney

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Our property division lawyer, Emily G. Johnston, is skilled at helping clients arrive at an equitable division of property during a divorce. A holder of an MBA degree, Attorney Johnston is adept at identifying and valuing all types of property to achieve an equitable settlement. If you have questions about property division, contact our Mount Pleasant office. Call (843) 881-6866.

Dividing property is a complicated business. In South Carolina, property is either “marital” or “non-marital”. Non-marital property is not included in property division; the first step in the process is to distinguish the marital property from the non-marital property. This is sometimes difficult, as transmutation of non-marital property often occurs during a marriage, either intentionally or through other acts between the husband and wife.

The next step is to identify all marital property. Marital property can include almost anything acquired during the marriage—a business, works of art, pensions, life insurance, stock accounts, mutual funds, 401K plans, stock options, checking accounts, real estate, beach houses, and household furnishings. We use investigators and forensic accountants to investigate assets and income to help achieve a fair and equitable result. Tax returns, spending patterns and lifestyle are important considerations in this process.

Once adequately identified, marital property is valued for purposes of equitable property division. We use appraisers, business evaluators, real estate and art appraisers, and any expert who is able to assign value to property in court. The family court judge finalizes the property division in the divorce settlement using factors such as:

• Length of marriage
• Fault in the divorce
• Value of marital property
• Income of each spouse
• Health of each spouse
• Needs of each spouse for education to maximize or achieve that spouse’s income
• Non marital property of each spouse
• Retirement benefits
• Alimony awards
• Whether family home should be awarded to the custodial parent
• Tax implications
• Other support obligations
• Liens or other debts
• Child custody arrangements
• Existence of a prenuptial agreement

For an attorney highly knowledgeable about the financial aspects of divorce and equitable division of marital assets, contact Emily Johnston at our Mount Pleasant office. We can help preserve your property rights.

Helping people solve complex problems for 20 years