Jointly owned property

Monday, July 08, 2013

Jointly owned property

Week Two: Jointly held property (real and personal)

Jointly held assets and debts are to be divided equally. Because they are owned jointly, these assets are not necessarily valued at date of separation; rather the value on the date of sale or transfer is relevant. A common example is a jointly owned house (real property). Unlike other assets it is possible to apply to the court to partition or sell real property.

If the house has a value of $200,000.00 at date of sale but is not sold until a year later, by which time it increased in value to $250,000.00, it is the $250,000.00 that is equally shared. One party will often keep an asset and then compensate the other for one half of the gain or keep a debt and be compensated for one half of the loss. Assets and debts can be transferred from one party to the other or put into the sole name of one party to finalize the division.

If the parties cannot agree on how to deal with the joint asset, the court can order sale of the property. When it comes to the family home, certain factors may resulting in postponing the sale.

Personal property (for example: household contents) are typically jointly owned however as a matter of practice lawyers often include these items in a Family Property Act accounting.

Tags family law winnipeg property dividing assets and debts

Posted by Alison Bennet at 12:00 AM

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Monday, July 08, 2013