Interviewer: It is always going to be a 50/50 division?
Chris: No, that’s the standard but there are always exceptions. This is one of the times that you can look at a case and you look at the standard rule; community property, everything’s split in half, that’s the burden on the other party.
The Party Wanting More Than Half the Assets Must Prove Why They Are Entitled to a Larger Share
If someone wants to get more than 50% of the estate, then the burden’s on them to explain why or to show why. There are many factors that can influence why someone should get more than 50% of an estate.
That’s when an actual fault of a divorce, the fault of why you’re getting a divorce, can come into play. For instance, if you committed adultery, that’s a factor that sometimes will give one spouse a little bit more leverage so they are awarded more than 50% of the estate.
Let’s just say you have special needs, such as a disability or chronic illness. That’s where sometimes the sliding scale will go towards one party more than the other. But typically, you have to be aware that the standard is 50%, and if you want more then you’re asking for an exception which is attainable, but is also the exception to the rule.