The Twenty Year Divorce

                Sometimes there is more separation then happy marriage. After all, divorce is a drag, legal fees, filing costs and just plain paying the five bucks to park across the street from the courthouse. So people just move out, establish separate lives, maybe move in and out while having separate checkbooks.

                Then something happens, a new boyfriend wants to get married or you finally want her out of your life after she breaks all your stuff after the argument you had after seeing each other for the first time in two years spirals out of control after you accuse her of not loving you.

                So how do split the stuff up?

                Most sane reasonable people choose to just keep what they have in each others name after living apart for twelve years.

                However, you are married right?

                What about that equal split stuff.

                Bad news Tennessee is an equitable division state with a presumption of an even split. While logically long periods of separation should play a factor there is no caselaw where it is mentioned.

                So what to do? Signing a separation agreement may work. Just going ahead and getting a divorce is also an option.

                The best thing to do would be to sign a prenuptial agreement at the start specifying exactly what happens in the event of a separation. That way you don’t have to get divorced. Also that way when you aren’t separated everything should be split equally and you can feel like you really are unquestionably in a partnership.  Also, a provision limiting co-mingling which is the doctrine that states if your spouse contributes a significant amount say 10-50% of the value of your separate property before the marriage they get half. That leads to strife.

                Moral, everyone needs a pre-nup.