divorce attorney NYCA divorce attorney NYC explains the community property laws which are very important in a divorce proceeding.

There are nine states that currently contain some kind of community property law which govern the interest of spouses in income and property earned during a marriage. Basically, in a community property state, a wife and husband are believed to own equal and undivided half interests in each and every item in the community property and income earned during the marriage by one spouse and will typically be treated as if it had been earned half by each spouse: although, each state has their own interpretation of this law and they vary from state to state.

Certain situations allow for an ‘innocent spouse’ prevision which is relief from the effects of community property laws.

Community property laws vary greatly among the nine community property states.  For example, Arizona says income earned by a spouse after a married couple has separated is considered community property, however in California; the courts would treat this income as separate property. The other community property states include Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin – Wisconsin is not a “true” community property state; however its laws regarding property ownership by a married couple are so similar to the laws of the other community property states, it is listed as a community property state in almost all legal documents.

In a community property state it is rare to see an uncontested divorce; however an uncontested divorce New York City is on the rise because the majority of people seeking uncontested divorces are young, childless and do not have mortgage payments or own any real personal property to be haggled over.  Whatever property they do own, they can work out some type of agreement as to who will own it after the divorce before reaching their attorney’s office to save them time and money because negotiations often take up a lot of a lawyer’s time and time is money in the world of a lawyer who charges by the hour.

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