Who Gets The Shore House? Handling Multiple Real Estate Properties In A New Jersey Divorce

Having a shore house and spending summers by the beach is a tradition many New Jersey families cherish. But when a couple divorces, the shore house can become a point of contention. Like all other property, including the family’s full-time home, a vacation house is a significant investment and may constitute a large portion of a married couple’s marital property.

In New Jersey, a divorcing couple’s property is divided according to a principle known as equitable distribution, where numerous factors are considered when determining each partner’s needs and contributions to the couple’s total shared property.

It is important to note that property division applies only to a couple’s marital property, and not their singly-held pieces of property. Marital property is the property that the couple acquired through their shared buying power during their marriage. Examples of this include their home and their shared bank accounts. Singly-held property is property that either party owned before entering the marriage. For example, if two individuals who each own their own vehicles marry, those vehicles are considered to be singly-held property because they were purchased with each partner’s individual buying power before entering a marriage.

Factors Used To Divide Property:

Because a shore house is not the couple’s full-time home, it is subject to the division rules that apply to other pieces of shared property. The couple’s home is given special consideration during a divorce and while the following factors may be applied to it, there are other unique factors at play when determining which spouse keeps the full-time home.

• The length of the couple’s marriage
• The property’s market value
• The property’s current value, determined by factoring its market value and debt level
• The extent to which either party scarified his or her career opportunities for the couple’s children and household
• Each partner’s age and health
• Each partner’s current economic circumstances
• Each partner’s economic contribution to the shared property
• The couple’s child custody agreement, if applicable
• Any foreseeable economic hardship for either partner
• The tax consequences of a proposed distribution plan

Talk to your attorney about how your property may be divided during your divorce. The more property you own, the more complicated your divorce can become. Contact The Law Office of Eric B. Hannum Esq., LLC. to learn more about the property division process and how you can advocate for keeping your vacation home during your divorce. Call our firm today at (732) 365-3299 to schedule your initial legal consultation with our firm.