NH Law About ...: Marital Property Division: Read The Law About ...

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New Hampshire Statutes

RSA 458. Annulment, Divorce and Separation
See RSA 458:16-a, Property Settlement and RSA 458:16-b, Restraining Orders Regarding Property.
RSA 460. Husband and Wife
See RSA 460:2-a, Antenuptial Agreements. Note that the tagline for this section is Antenuptial Agreements and the text of the statute refers to "written interspousal" contracts. A keyword search on "prenuptial" will not turn up this statute in the results. RSA 458, on the other hand, does use the phrase "prenuptial contract."

New Hampshire Cases

Magrauth v. Magrauth, 136 N.H. 757 (1993)
"RSA 458:16-a, II provides that if the court is to order a division of property upon the decree of divorce, the distribution must be equitable. The statute incorporates our decisions which have held that an equal division of property is presumed to be equitable, unless the court finds that certain factors would make an unequal division equitable."
Boucher v. Boucher, 131 N.H. 377 (1988)
"Although fault may not be considered in making a division of property following a no-fault divorce decree, property need not be distributed equally, though it must be distributed equitably. A court may consider a number of factors in dividing the parties' assets, including the length of the marriage, the ability of the parties to support themselves, and the need of a party to provide a home for minor children."
In re Jones, 146 N.H. 119 (2001)
'A trial court may determine that equity requires an unequal distribution of marital property.'
In re Chamberlin, 155 N.H. 13 (2007)
'We now adopt, as herein modified, [a] two-step analysis … under which the trial court first determines, as a matter of law, what assets are marital property under RSA 458:16-a, I, and thus subject to equitable distribution, and then exercises its discretion to make an equitable distribution of those assets.'
Matter of Munson, 169 N.H. 274 (2016)
'We ... hold that premarital cohabitation is a factor that the court may consider in divorce proceedings when determining whether to depart from the presumption that “an equal division is an equitable distribution of property."'
In re Crowe, 148 N.H. 218 (2002)
'A marriage of only one or two years may be considered differently from a long-term marriage of ten, twenty or thirty years. In a short-term marriage, it may be easier to give back property brought to the marriage and still leave the parties in no worse position than they were in prior to it. Still, the length of the marriage and the contributions of each party are but two factors for the court to consider in fashioning an equitable division of assets.'

West Topics and Key Numbers

Use the Topics and Key Numbers on Westlaw to find more cases on property division in divorce.

Divorce

V. Spousal Support, Allowances, and Disposition of Property, k500-k1349

(D) Allocation of Property and Liabilities; Equitable Distribution, k650-k899

1. In General, k650-k670

2. Property Subject to Distribution or Division, k671-k724

3. Proportion or Share Given on Division, k725-k759

4. Valuation of Property or Interest in General, k760-k779

5. Valuation, Division or Distribution of Particular Property or Interests, k780-k819

6. Methods of Distribution, k820-k849

7. Debts and Liabilities in General, k830-k849

8. Marital Residence or Homestead, k850-k869

9. Proceedings for Division or Assignment, k870-k899

New Hampshire Court Rules

Circuit Court. Family Division. Domestic Relations Rules
Click on the 'Jump to Specific Number' pulldown menu and select "Domestic Relations" (Starting with Rule 2.1).

Please remember that this guide is for information purposes only and is not comprehensive.
It is intended as a starting point for research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.

Marital Property Division

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