Equitable Distribution

A claim for equitable distribution asks the court to divide any marital and divisible property, including assets and debts, between you and your spouse.  Under North Carolina General Statute §50-20(b)(1), marital property is all real and personal property acquired by either spouse or both spouses during the course of the marriage and before the date of the separation of the parties. An equitable distribution claim must be filed before an absolute divorce is granted to either party.  If the divorce is granted before you or your spouse file for equitable distribution, then the claim is lost and the court can no longer decide the issue.  The court identifies, classifies, and values all the property presented by the parties and then makes a determination as to how the property is divided.  In North Carolina, there is the presumption that marital property should be divided equally among the spouses.  However, there are twelve factors that allow the court to consider an unequal distribution of property, which include such factors as the duration of the marriage, age of the parties, physical and mental health of the parties, waste of a marital asset by a party, need of a parent with custody of a minor child to occupy the marital residence, and any other factor the court may find to be just and proper.