The Tiger Woods divorce is in the headlines again. CBS 4 in Miami is reporting that he has agreed to pay Elin Nordegren $110 million as part of a divorce settlement. It is estimated that Tiger Woods is worth close to $500 million in total, and many commentators believe Elin could have demanded even more than what she is reportedly receiving.
Generally when married couples divorce, the property they have must be divided between them. This process is called property division. It can often be very complex even when neither spouse is a millionaire. It works differently from state to state, but we’ll go into some detail on how it works in Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, the law is presumes that all property of the spouses is marital property and is subject to division during a divorce. Each spouse is considered to have half interest in all marital property. However, not all property will end up being in the marital property category. Some property held by the spouses will be considered to be separate or individual property such as gifts and inherited assets. This separate property is generally not subject to division.
Family law judges do have some discretion in dividing marital property and the factors they may consider are misconduct; the property an individual spouse brought to the marriage; the contributions the spouse made to the marriage; how much separate property the spouses have; and many other factors.
Because property division is so complex, it is sometimes difficult to predict what a judge will decide. When possible, the parties will agree to a marital property settlement which allows them to agree on the division of the marital assets. Given the news reports, it appears Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren chose this option.
Source: CBS4.com: Tiger Woods Divorce A Multi-Million Dollar Affair; 10/19/10
