Divorce can be an emotional time, causing outbursts and wild statements that may have little basis in fact. One reason why you want your own divorce attorney early in the process is to ensure that you are not fooled or intimidated by blustering or threats by your spouse.
Your attorney works for you and will protect your interests. In a case like a divorce, you should never rely on or make decisions based upon what your soon-to-be former spouse or their attorney tells you.
Threats that they will leave you with nothing after the divorce are most likely untrue, as family law in Michigan does not permit one spouse taking all of the assets of the marriage.
Property division in Michigan is done by what is known as an equitable basis. This means the assets and debts of the marriage are divided in a way that is equitable or fair to both spouses.
This does not mean an absolute 50/50 split, but it does mean that the court will attempt to balance income, earning capacity, investments, bank accounts and property, so that spouses share roughly the marital property. Of course, if some assets were never marital property, they will not be shared.
Your attorney can explain how the process will work in your case. It very important that you identify and locate all of the assets and debts of the marriage, to ensure that the property division is equitable and accurate, as it is very difficult to modify a property division after a divorce is final, absent wrongdoing by one of the parties.
Source: wotv4women.com, “My spouse says I’ll get nothing after divorce: Fact vs. threat,” Gail Saukas, December 22, 2015
