Throughout New York, many couples are finalizing divorce settlements before the end of the year. For those with children, many issues will be relevant to their settlements, such as legal and physical custody and, perhaps, child support. There is also the matter of asset division, which can be complex. For example, which spouse owns reward points on a credit card account?
Because they are a relatively new resource for generating cash flow or coupons for products, credit card reward points have not typically been part of asset division in divorce for very long. Understandably, spouses might overlook these assets regarding marital property division. It is wise to learn more about this ahead of proceedings.
Assets acquired during marriage are marital property in a divorce
It does not usually matter whether a credit card is owned in both spouses’ names or only one. Any reward points earned during marriage are considered marital property for asset division. New York operates under equitable property guidelines, which means the judge will determine a fair way to split the reward points between both spouses.
It might be possible for the spouses to redeem their credit card points for cash, and then split the money. However, in some cases, it is not money but ticket miles for an airline or coupons for shopping online, etc., that comprise the earned points. In such cases, a value must be assigned to the points so that they can be divided between both spouses as part of their divorce settlement. A New York family law attorney can guide asset disclosure and property division issues.