Difference between revisions of "Basic Principles of Property and Debt in Family Law"

Under the old ''Family Relations Act'', when a ''triggering event'' happened, all of the property owned by either or both spouses became equally owned by both spouses as ''tenants in common''. Even if only one spouse owned an asset, both of the spouses became equal owners of that asset as tenants in common. If both spouses owned an asset as ''joint tenants'', the joint tenancy was severed and both of the spouses became equal owners of the asset as tenants in common.

Family law lawyers described the effect of a triggering event as "crystallizing" the interests of the spouses in the family assets because the triggering event made each spouse a legal owner of one-half of the family assets in a way that was also binding on people outside the marriage, like creditors, trustees in bankruptcy, potential purchasers, and so forth. After a triggering event happened under the old ''Family Relations Act'', all a creditor could put a lien on or seize was the debtor's half-share of an asset, regardless of whether the debtor was the sole owner or the joint owner of the asset before the triggering event.

Once any one of these triggering events happened, each spouse took a one-half legal interest in all of the family assets as a tenant in common, regardless of who bought the asset, who used to own the asset, or when the asset was bought. This new situation (created at the point of the triggering event) lasted until the division of the assets was finally determined by a court order or the parties' agreement.