Sioux Falls Family Law Blog

As an equitable distribution state, South Dakota may seem like the place where you would obtain a fair division of assets during your divorce. Equitable distribution means that the courts split your joint assets and debts, accounting for many factors so that each spouse receives a portion of the estate that is fair. The court may consider your salaries, the value of any personal assets, your individual debts and the length of your marriage, among other details.

However, despite the efforts to make the split fair, not every divorcing spouse in South Dakota ends up with the portion of assets he or she deserves. Those spouses may struggle financially in the years following the divorce. If this is a concern of yours, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of obtaining a truly equitable share of assets.

During your marriage, you probably didn't have a written agreement with your spouse regarding how you would divide the parenting duties. You just naturally fell into taking care of certain things when it came to the children. For example, you may have been the primary breadwinner while your spouse took care of a large portion of the children's daily needs and activities.

This does not mean that, now that you are going through a divorce, you must relegate yourself to paying child support and spending less time with the children than the other parent. During your divorce, you can work out a parenting plan that provides each of you with a more equitable division of time with the children.

When preparing to go through the divorce process, parents in South Dakota may have a lot of questions regarding how their split will affect their time with their children. Will one parent get the kids full time? Will you and your soon-to-be ex be able to work out a joint custody agreement? Every case is different. What works for one family may not work for another.

There are specific child custody guidelines offered by the state. Anymore, though, courts are willing to accept all sorts of custody arrangements and parenting plans -- as long as they serve the best interests of the affected children.

Prenuptial agreements might be one of the most unnecessarily controversial planning tools available. Many people in South Dakota form opinions about prenups without actually knowing much about them. Unfortunately, this means that a significant number of soon-to-be married couples miss out on valuable protections.

While wealthy South Dakota residents might have more interests to protect than others, this does not mean that you cannot utilize prenuptial agreements if you have fewer assets. In reality, prenups can benefit most couples in the event of a divorce.