Don't Forget To Equitably Divide These Things During A Divorce
The division of your marital assets is one of the biggest steps to go through when you and your spouse are divorcing, but it's easy to be so focused on cash and large-value assets that you neglect some other things. In many cases, these forgotten things can have a significant amount of value, even if they don't immediately come to mind. It's important to make a list of these items and report their value to your divorce lawyer. He or she can work with your spouse's divorce attorney to divide these items equitably. Here are some examples.
Gift Cards
The average family often has a pile of gift cards sitting around the house with the intention of being used at a later date. If a divorce occurs before you and your spouse use the gift cards, it's easy to overlook officially dividing them. Forgetting to do so would be a bad idea, however, because there may be more value in the gift cards than you expect. For example, a small stack of gift cards can easily amount to several hundred dollars, especially if some of the cards have high amounts printed on them. It's fair to divide them in a manner that suits you both.
Rewards Points
Many people collect rewards points on their credit cards, and while some people redeem their points frequently, others hold off doing so until they've accrued a significant number of points. If you and your spouse share a credit card and have built up perhaps several hundred dollars or maybe even more than $1,000 worth of reward points, you don't want to take them yourself or have your spouse take them without coming up with an equitable arrangement. Generally, you can divide the points in a few different ways to achieve a fair end result.
Air Miles
If you and your spouse are frequent air travelers, you may have collected a significant number of air miles with one or more airlines — which could equate to several hundred dollars' worth of free flights, or possibly even more. This is another issue that you need to discuss amongst yourselves and with your attorneys, as necessary. Dividing the air miles fairly will prevent either of you feeling as though the other partner has taken advantage of you. Your attorney can also identify other things that divorcing couples frequently forget to divide so that you can address these areas, too.
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