As you work your way through your divorce proceedings in Cranberry Township, there will be several benchmark dates that you will want to be aware of during the process. Like most of those that come to see us here at the Sweeney Law Offices, LLC, you might not consider your valuation date to be one of them. The process of dividing up your marital property between you and your ex-spouse can be complex, and you might think that all you need to know is that whatever either of you earned during the marriage is subject to property division. Yet the date on which your marital property is officially appraised and valued by the court is important for a number of different reasons.
First and foremost among these is the potential for appreciation (or depreciation) in value from the date that you and your ex-spouse officially separated. Consider this: like most divorce cases, yours likely involvesa good deal of emotion surrounding the circumstances that contributed to the end of your marriage. Say that your ex-spouse remains in your marital home after the two of you separate. If they still harbor negative feelings towards you (and knowing that the value of your home will likely be split between you both), they could choose to allow the home to fall into disrepair in an effort to purposely lower its value (yes, their stake in the home would be devalued as well, yet their emotions could potentially prompt such action).
Per Pennsylvania’s Consolidated Statutes, the valuation date in a divorce case is the date your divorce is finalized. Thus, you will want to ensure that your marital assets are protected from depreciation after your separation.
More information on property division proceedings can be found throughout our site.
