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Ohio Property Distribution Laws

In an Ohio divorce, each party will be entitled to retain his or her separate property, including gifts, inheritances, property acquired prior to the marriage, income or appreciation of separate property, and individual personal injury awards. All marital property will be equally divided in an Ohio divorce based on the following:

• the desirability of awarding the family home, or right to reside in it, to the spouse with custody of the children;

• the liquidity of the property to be distributed;

• the financial resources of both spouses;

• the economic desirability of retaining an asset intact;

• the tax consequences of the division;

• the duration of the marriage;

• the costs of any sale of an asset, if a sale is necessary for division purposes;

• any division made in a separation agreement; and

• any other relevant factor. An unequal division will be permissible if an equal division is shown to be inequitable.

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