During a divorce, next to child custody and child support issues, the property division can be the most difficult and contentious issue. Part of the problem, especially for long-term marriages, is that after so many years, it may be difficult to fully comprehend all of the stuff you have accumulated and figure out how to equitably divide it. This is an area where you divorce attorney can help, by discussing the type of things to look for and suggesting checklists to use.

The first thing to do is make an inventory of the items in your household. In order to create an equitable property division, you need to know what you and your spouse own. Things that you brought into the marriage or items that were gifts to you remain your separate property. A wedding ring from your grandmother or Aunt Bessie’s china would not become part of the marital estate.

Property acquired during the marriage becomes part of the marital estate and in Oklahoma, are subject to equitable division, which means it will be divided fairly and reasonably, but not necessarily 50/50.

An example of a type of property you may not think about as subject to division is air miles. If a spouse travels frequently for work, they can accumulate a considerable amount of these miles, and if so, may represent a considerable sum.

It is reasonable to consider this marital property, especially for couples with children, because the non-traveling spouse may have had substantial demands placed on them to handle childcare and driving duties while their spouse was on travel.

Some programs do not permit transfers as part of a divorce, so in those cases, you will have to determine a value to be divided, but if there are many miles, the payoff may be taking a vacation after your divorce.