A lot of clients do not think they need to disclose the contents or value of the separate property or non-marital property. This is not the case. Parties are obligated to disclose and value all of their assets whether they are marital or non-marital. In the end, the analysis of a proper division takes into consideration the separate property even though the separate property will not be divided.
In a recent case, the Court of Appeals justified a better than 50% division of marital property to the wife on the grounds the husband had considerable non-marital property in his name. The Court reiterated that “equitable division” does not mean “equal division” and found the division fair. Roberts v. Roberts, NO. 2012-CA-01523-COA (4/1/14)