The process of dividing your assets during a divorce can be exhausting and often confusing. There’s so much to go through – the house, the car, the furniture – that you probably don’t even stop to think of other joint assets that you may have accumulated over the years.
If you and your ex were frequent travelers, you might have racked up a decent collection of airline miles during your marriage. Airline miles are considered a marital asset and, therefore, available for division upon your divorce.
How does Ohio handle marital assets?
Ohio is known as an equitable division state, which means that your marital assets – all the property you collected during your marriage – are fairly divided by the court. Equitable division does not always guarantee a 50/50 split between your assets.
The court will consider factors such as each spouse’s financial status, conduct and the value of the assets to determine how to distribute assets to each person fairly.
What does this mean for my miles?
Your airline miles are marital assets that belong to both of you. Under Ohio divorce laws, you will likely not be able to split the number of miles you have evenly in half. Instead, the spouse who travels more often may receive a higher percentage of the miles.
However, there are some things you can consider so you can keep most of your miles:
- Divide the points. If you have hundreds of thousands of miles saved, it’s ideal dividing them down the middle. An Ohio court may grant equal division if you and your ex agree on that decision ahead of time.
- Value the points and payout your ex. If you only have enough miles for one flight, there might be no point in splitting them up. Instead, one spouse can keep the miles and negotiate an equal payment to the other spouse.
- Use miles for joint purposes only. Another option is to keep your miles and use them under certain agreed-upon circumstances. For example, you can use the miles to buy a ticket for your child when taking a vacation.
If you like to travel or if you simply want to keep your miles, you have options during your divorce. It’s essential to keep a civil and open line of communication with your ex so you can reach an agreeable outcome and hopefully prevent the court from getting involved and dividing your miles up for you.
