A German man took the idea of giving his wife half of everything in their divorce literally and cut their possessions in half. The man posted a video of himself cutting the various items in half on-line and is selling his halves on ebay. Bidders can take home halves of a car, a sofa, a bed, a phone, a laptop, a bike, a teddy bear and other items from their twelve-year marriage.
While the idea of cutting everything in half is a funny stunt, it raises an important issue for people to remember when they divorce. Often, people in the midst of a divorce get wrapped up in the idea of wanting the “stuff.” After all, the living room sofa is tangible. You can touch it. You can remember the hours you spent comparing it to other sofas before you bought it and waiting for just the right time to get the best possible price for it.
Alternatively, a retirement account is not tangible. You cannot even take any money out of the retirement account to buy a replacement sofa without having to pay taxes and penalties on it.
As odd as it sounds, though, you need to focus on the accounts and not the “stuff.” While there are some exceptions for certain collectibles, most of the furniture and furnishings you have in your house are only worth what you would get for it at a garage sale. Even if you spent a good deal of money to furnish your home, it is rarely worth the cost to pay your attorney to fight with the ex’s attorney over it. You are much better off paying your attorney to make sure you get your share of the real property and financial accounts.
This, however, does not mean that you will not get your share of the “stuff” to furnish your new life. If the parties in a Las Vegas divorce are unable to divide the furniture and furnishings themselves, the court will order them to divide it by an A/B List. Using an A/B List is simple. One party divides all of the furniture, furnishings and other “stuff” into two columns: A and B. The other party then chooses to take all of column A or all or column B. The party dividing the property is likely to be fair because the other party will take the better column if it is not divided fairly. If you need help determining what property is worth a fight, call the divorce attorneys at Pecos Law Group.