The Boys vs. The Girls – Tips for Negotiating Your Property Settlement

Years ago, it was fashionable to believe that men and women are the same at birth and are merely conditioned to be different by each culture’s society. Some people may still believe that to be true. Regardless of what you believe, sex affects decisions made in divorce. Here are some tips for negotiating your property settlement.

Whether you are a man or a woman, be aware of your tendency to overvalue property because you, as a man or a woman, have a particular attachment to it. A gun collection, sold at auction or on Ebay, may be worth 1,000 times the photographs of your children from birth through high school. Think about whether you want to trade those albums for the rifles and shotguns before you agree that he can have them as long as you get the pictures.

The sterling silver flatware that your mother in law gave you when you married could be worth much more than those old baseball cards or comic books, but maybe not. Just because you could not care less about setting the Thanksgiving table with the good silver does not mean you should not think about its value when you go to splitting things up.

Talk to your lawyer if you are not sure what is sensible and fair. Often, your personal marital property is not worth an argument. Nevertheless, get some professional advice before you decide that you are willing to give up the Limoges china for your mounted open mouth bass.