Some property is not, properly speaking, either marital or separate. For example, property acquired after separation does not fall within the statutory definitions of either marital or separate property. Post-separation appreciation of marital property is itself neither marital nor separate but, rather, must be treated as a distributional factor. Regardless of when title to an item of property is taken, the property is acquired as it is being paid for. The marital unit shares, at equitable distribution, in increases in the value of separate property that the marital unit has proportionately acquired in its own right.
Some property is of dual character, being part marital and part separate.
Numerous cases have addressed these distinctions and should be consulted for specific details beyond the scope of this book. B. Valuation Second, the court is required to fix the net value of the marital property as of the date of separation, with net value being market value, if any, less the amount of any encumbrances. The net value is thus the value that a court would be dividing between spouses. Finally, the court must distribute the marital property in an equitable manner. An equal division of the marital property is mandatory under the Equitable Distribution Act, unless the court determines in the exercise of its discretion that such a distribution would be inequitable.