When looking at divorce, many people are concerned with how assets will be divided post-divorce, but another item of concern is how the parties’ debts will be divided post-divorce. Any amount of money you and your spouse owe could be subject to division when going through divorce. Minnesota is an equitable distribution state, which means the court will attempt to divide the assets and debts in a manner that is “just and equitable.” Since Minnesota is also a no-fault divorce state, it doesn’t matter who is responsible for the breakdown of the marriage, the court works to fairly divide assets and debts. “Just and equitable” means fair, but not necessarily equal in relation to the division of debts and assets in divorce.
When dividing debts, they first must be split into marital debt and nonmarital debt. Marital debt is acquired by you and your spouse as a couple during the marriage; keep in mind that just because the debt is acquired during the marriage does not mean the debt is automatically considered marital debt. Nonmarital debts are debts that only pertain to you or your spouse, whether that means it was a debt incurred by one person during the marriage that benefited only that party, or if it was a debt brought into the marriage by you or your spouse.
The division of debt is one more issue that needs to be dealt with when looking at divorce. Working with an experienced divorce attorney can help ease you through divorce and make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible.