California state law gives both spouses an interest in shared community property. Even when one spouse earns more than the other, the household income earned during the marriage is usually marital property that the couple will have to divide. The same is true of any assets purchased with marital income or otherwise acquired during the marriage.
As you start planning for divorce, it is natural to focus your efforts on the assets that you believe have the most financial value. Retirement accounts, real estate and businesses are among the assets that could lead to contentious property division negotiations and possibly litigation.
Some people facing divorce will focus so intently on those major assets that they end up overlooking other property that represents a significant amount of financial value. What kind of assets are likely part of your marital estate and easy to overlook in a divorce?
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Collectibles and similar personal property
Perhaps your spouse always purchased the limited-edition releases of certain brands of sneakers, or maybe they have thousands of dollars in hobby equipment, like specialty printing devices or a kiln. Although you may have no interest in the property itself, the marital resources invested in those assets are still worth consideration. You can claim the value of collectibles and personal property that you don’t necessarily hope to keep in the divorce.
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Credit card rewards and frequent flier miles
Higher-asset households tend to have various systems by which they capitalize on their financial or personal behavior. Rewards credit cards and frequent flier clubs are among the valuable programs that couples often join or contribute to during their marriages. Even when a credit card is only in one spouse’s name, the rewards accumulated during the marriage could influence the division of other marital property.
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Digital assets
From domain names purchased years ago to hold as investment properties to actual digital resources like nonfungible tokens (NFTs), your spouse may have spent a sizable amount of marital resources on digital property. It can be easy to overlook items that don’t have a fixed value or a physical presence, but they could represent thousands of dollars in your upcoming divorce.
If you mistakenly overlook property during the discovery process or property division negotiations with your spouse, you could deprive yourself of thousands of dollars in marital resources that could benefit you as you work to reestablish yourself after your divorce. Knowing where to look for frequently forgotten assets can help those preparing for an upcoming high-asset divorce.
