Divorce brings many feelings and matters to the forefront. You must overcome the anger, shock and frustration and also get down to the legal nitty-gritty. The latter includes child custody, alimony and division of assets.
For affluent couples, dividing those assets often proves to be a difficult task. Through the years, those assets accumulated from a second or third home to investment property and an abundance of financial investments, stock options and a retirement portfolio. However, sometimes, certain assets get taken for granted.
Country club memberships, sports tickets
Some of these assets may be right under their noses. In other scenarios, the divorcing couple may have given little thought or simply made assumptions regarding the assets. Here are a few of the overlooked assets in divorce:
- Memberships: As a couple, you achieved a certain social status by being members of private country, tennis and swimming clubs. Will you maintain these memberships? Or divide them between the two of you?
- Sports and other event tickets: Perhaps the family has had season tickets for the Philadelphia Eagles games for decades. These valuable tickets also hold sentimental value. Season tickets for theater, orchestra and museum events also may be on this list.
- Frequent flyer mileage: All that airline travel you did together and apart adds up to potentially free airfare somewhere around the world. A battle over this perk is possible.
- Family pets: You consider your dog or cat a member of the family. Now, divorcing couples must decide who gets the pet.
- Storage units: These may be filled with mementos, photographs and collections. You must determine how to divide them and decide whether one of you will continue paying the storage fees.
In divorce, there are obvious assets such as the home and retirement investments that get scrutiny when dividing them. Then there are the overlooked assets that are not so obvious, but, sometimes, have just as much value and meaning. Make sure to thoroughly review your assets and stand up for what you want.
