If I divorce, will I lose half of everything I own?

Answer:

Maybe, and maybe not.

If you owned things or investments before marriage, or during the you received inheritances, or gifts from anyone except your spouse, or if you received money for a personal injury, then you might be able to protect all or some of the value of those things or investments.

If you and your spouse signed a Prenuptial Agreement before you married, then the terms of that agreement and not the Matrimonial Property Act, will determine how the property you accumulated during the marriage, is divided.

If you do not fall into any of these categories, then you and your spouse will likely be dividing equally all that you have accumulated during the marriage, by value. Nothing will be cut in half, or sold for less than its value. Assets will only be sold and the money divided, if both parties agree, or a Court orders that. Usually assets are distributed in such a way that the value sharing will be accomplished.

You will have more input into the process of valuing and dividing assets and debts, if you and your spouse participate in mediation, to resolve these issues, rather than going to Court.