Thank you for your additional information. The reason I asked for this information is this - South Carolina is an "Equitable Distribution" State. This means that in the division of marital property, certain factors are taken into account in order to reach an equitable division of the marital property between the parties.

However, in the context of division of marital property, "Equitable" does not necessarily mean "equal". Marital property is defined as all property acquired, or purchased, during the marriage, regardless of who paid for it and regardless of whose name is XXXXX XXXXX title, except for gifts, bequests, and inheritances, which remain the sole, separate property of the recipient spouse. Division of the marital property starts out at 50-50, but may result in a 55-45, or a 60-40 division. When the Judge is dividing the marital property during the Equitable Distribution Proceedings, he will take into account the amounts of money taken by your son's wife and the charge she placed on the credit cards that were not for the benefit of both parties and the Judge will treat that money as if she had received it as her share of Equitable Distribution and subtract that amount from what she would have received under normal circumtances in Equitable Distribution Proceedings,

Let explain this by using a hypothetical example, H and W are husband and Wife. They bought a house during their marriage, and a 2012 vehicle. They paid off the car loan and the mortgage loan. At the time of divorce, the house had a Fair Market Value ("FMV") of $190,000, and the vehicle had a FMV of $15,000. W left H and took the vehicle, $25,000 from the savings account and charged $30,000 on credit cards.

Assume that H and W could not agree on a division of the marital assets, so they asked the Judge to divide the marital assets. The Judge decided that a 50-50 division was equitable. Here is what would happen:

Total of all Marital Assets:

FMV of House - - - - - - $ 190,000

FMV of Vehicle - - - - - $ 15,000

Savings Account - - - $ 25,000

Total Marital Assets $ 230,000

Judge decided on 50-50 division, so Each Spouse's Share would have been $ 115,000

But W had already taken $70,000 worth of assets and incurred debt, as follows:

FMV of Vehicle - - - - - - - - - - - - $ 15,000

Savings - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $ 25,000

Credit Card Charges - - - - - - - $ 30,000

Total Already Received by W - $ 70,000

W's Share in Equitable Distribution equals $115,000 less $70,000 = $45,000

H's Share in Equitable Distribution equals $ 115,000

The wife's share would be reduced by the amounts she already "advanced to herself". If there is not enough cash to effect the division as Ordered by the Judge, the Judge may Order the marital residence be sold in order to effect this division. If one of the parties has the money to buy the interest of the other party in the house, then that can be Ordered by the Judge and the house need not be sold

If the house you own together with your son was purchased before the marriage, then your son's interest in the house does not constitute a marital asset and is not taken into account during Equitble Distribution.

So, in summary, this would be the only way that your son would get his share without being penalized by the debt incurred by his wife on the credit cards,

I hope I have provided you with Excellent Service, if you need anything further, please use the "Reply" button to let me know



ANDREA

You are very Welcome, I am glad I could help, If you have more questions or concerns you know where to find me

I wish you all the best,

ANDREA