There are many myths that are spread about the legal system. This can be particularly true when Detroit residents are facing legal disputes, as other parties to the case can make threats about what will or will not happen.
In a contested divorce case, it can be common for parties to make threats to one another about certain divorce legal issues. With uncertainty swirling around these issues, these threats can appear credible at first blush.
In reality, however, the threats by the other side are often completely empty and uninformed. For example, a husband might tell his wife that she will receive nothing in the divorce and he will receive everything. In doing so, the husband might be trying to intimidate the wife, or he may be asking her to sign off on a settlement proposal that is favorable to him.
In either event, the threats are unlikely to come to fruition. Michigan law divides marital assets equitably between spouses. While this does not mean all property is divided on a 50-50 basis, it means that a court is not likely to give one side or the other all of the marital property, because that is typically not a fair result.
Courts are likely to consider a variety of factors in deciding what is a fair division of the couple’s assets and debt. For example, if one party has the ability to earn a substantially larger income than the other, the court might consider this factor in dividing the marital property. The court could also consider conduct that lead to the divorce, such as affairs by one spouse. The bottom line is that courts will attempt to be fair in their decisions, and being fair requires casting a wide net in terms of what is considered.
Source: WOTV 4 Women, “My spouse says I’ll get nothing after divorce: fact vs. threat,” Gail Saukas, Dec. 22, 2015
