Divorce Myths: Everything must go before we are divorced!

A surprisingly common “divorce myth” we hear in our practice is that division of property must happen before the couple is divorced. There is no such rule! The court’s power to divide property after a divorce is defined in ORS 107.105(1)(f). Whenever a court finalizes a divorce, separation, or annulment action, the court can provide for the division of real property and personal property as is “just and proper in all the circumstances.” For example, the divorce judgment may explain how the parties are to divide the personal property after the divorce, or provide rules about how the parties will sell real property after the divorce. Once you have an agreement (or court ruling) on division of your assets, you can divorce first and divide and sell later.