Divorce

With or Without Children:

When a marriage is dissolved or when parties are legally separating, the marital property must be divided between the two parties. In Arizona and absent a prenuptial agreement, all of the property acquired by either the husband or the wife during the marriage, with some exceptions, will be divided equitably between the parties. For the most part, equitably means equally. This is known as “community property.” Common examples of community property are each party’s income during the marriage, property purchased during the marriage, and employee and employer contributions to retirement during the marriage.

Community property is distinct from separate property. Separate property is: any property owned by one spouse prior to the marriage, any property acquired by one spouse during the marriage by gift, devise or descent, any property acquired by one spouse during the marriage as a result of an increase in value, receipt of rent, or the like, from defined separate property, and
any property acquired after service of the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage/Petition for Legal Separation.

Issues commonly arise when separate property is “comingled” with community property. For example, husband owns a home prior to marriage. Upon getting married, husband and wife move into husband’s home and the parties pay the mortgage with their community property incomes.