How to Claim a Money Market Portfolio During a Divorce
- 1). Complete the required mandatory disclosure requirements for your state. This means that you fill out a financial affidavit showing your income, monthly bills, assets and liabilities. You may also be required to provide documentation for bank accounts, credit card statements, retirement accounts and of course, the money market portfolio.
- 2). Create an equitable distribution worksheet. You can hand-write it, or you can use a program such as Excel to create it. List all of the assets in the top section and all of the liabilities in the bottom section.
- 3). Go over the equitable distribution worksheet with your spouse. Decide who will be getting what assets and liabilities. The bottom line of "his" column and the bottom line of "her" column should be as close to equal as you can possibly get it. This is where you can bargain for control over the money market portfolio. If your spouse wants the house and the house has $300,000 in equity, you are entitled to $300,000 in other assets. Those other assets could include the money market portfolio as valued at the date of the settlement agreement.
- 4). Have your attorney draft a settlement agreement once you have decided what assets and liabilities you will pay. If you are using a mediator, the mediator will draft the agreement for you. If you do not have an attorney, write out a settlement agreement and ask the court to ratify it and make it into an order.
- 5). Attend a hearing on the division of assets. If you cannot come to an agreement, you will have to wait for the final judgment. In your testimony, you can ask the court to award you the money market portfolio in exchange for another asset you are willing to give to your spouse. It doesn't mean you will get what you asked for, but if you are being fair in your requests for division of assets and liabilities, you may get your wishes.
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