Personal Use Assets or Personal Property - How to Value and How to Divide

Personal use Assets or Personal Property: Items acquired for personal enjoyment, daily use, or lifestyle enhancement rather than for investment or business purposes.

Think of personal use assets as everything that would fall out of your house if you could flip it upside down and shake it (may or may not be titled).

Typical categories of personal use assets:

• Household Furnishings and Appliances
• Vehicles
• Jewelry and Accessories
• Collectibles and Memorabilia
• Pets
• Frequent Flier miles or Credit Card points

Valuing personal use assets involves assessing their fair market value, through several common methods:

• Published Values
• Agreement between Parties
• Comparable Sales
• Appraisal
• Miles & Points

Relevant documentation, such as purchase receipts, appraisals, and ownership records, should be gathered and shared during the divorce process.

Options for Division/Outcomes

1. Non-marital or separate personal use assets are awarded to the original party
2. For the marital/joint personal use assets, the larger value items like a car or piano are often added to the balance sheet and looked at in the overall division of all property
3. The many other smaller personal use assets are typically either shared between the spouses or bought out with other assets
4. If the parties final agreement on personal use assets results in one party having a greater value than the other, they can offset that value with other marital/joint property.

Key Considerations in division of personal property

• Value of personal use assets in a divorce process is resale value; often not as much value as you think
• Could be expensive to have attorneys or professionals work on personal property
• For frequent flier miles and credit card points, many plans will allow parties to divide these benefits with a Court order
• Pet ownership is typically worked out between clients or court will decide but often treated more like an asset than “child” (consider pet costs in cash flow analysis)

Personal use assets represent more than just monetary value; they hold sentimental significance and reflect the lifestyle and preferences of individuals.