In Oklahoma law, Title 43 O.S. Section 121 upon the granting of a divorce the Court:
B. The court shall enter its decree confirming in each spouse the property owned by him or her before marriage and the undisposed-of property acquired after marriage by him or her in his or her own right. Either spouse may be allowed such alimony out of real and personal property of the other as the court shall think reasonable, having due regard to the value of such property at the time of the divorce. Alimony may be allowed from real or personal property, or both, or in the form of money judgment, payable either in gross or in installments, as the court may deem just and equitable. As to such property, whether real or personal, which has been acquired by the parties jointly during their marriage, whether the title thereto be in either or both of said parties, the court shall, subject to a valid antenuptial contract in writing, make such division between the parties as may appear just and reasonable, by a division of the property in kind, or by setting the same apart to one of the parties, and requiring the other thereof to be paid such sum as may be just and proper to effect a fair and just division thereof. The court may set apart a portion of the separate estate of a spouse to the other spouse for the support of the children of the marriage where custody resides with that spouse.
This generally means that any property acquired by the spouses during marriage is subject to division. The judge will value the property, then determine how such value should be divided between the spouses whether that means to give one TV to one spouse and then a like-priced TV to the other spouse, or give the high-priced one to one spouse and make that spouse pay the excess value to the other.
The Court will then exclude from division all separate property, which is generally property acquired prior to marriage, by gift or by inheritance. Although it is less clear, some property acquired after separation can be considered separate property.
Temporary Orders that last for years. . .
Any time a new divorce or child custody case is filed any of the parties can ask the court to enter temporary orders which govern the responsibilities of the parties while they wait for trial. Since many contested matters may take six months or more to reach trial– and some more than a year– it may be very important to get some of the ground rules established while you wait.
The issues that may be heard at the temporary order stage are issues relating to payments of debts, possession of property, child custody and visitation, and even child support or alimony. For example, when a family splits up and a divorce is filed, the mortgage still needs to be paid, the credit card bills still come in the mail, and the kids need to know where they are going to be on the weekend. The temporary order is a chance for the parties to appear before the judge, usually within 30 days, and request temporary orders while they wait.
The judge generally conducts a brief hearing (15-30 minutes) to determine the issues. The judge will then set some rules in place. This hearing is probably one of the most important events in the course of the litigation, because it sets the rules for how the parties have to live until they get to trial. Also it is immune from appellate review, which means the trial judge can enter almost any order without being second guessed. This may mean that a hefty alimony award can completely cripple one of the spouses, and no change may be forthcoming until a trial date– that the other side is not seriously interested in setting quickly.
The Temporary Order can be modified at any time by the same judge that enters them, but most judges think they got it right the first time. Further, the Temporary Order disappears after the final order is entered. However, they are a very important part of the pretrial process and one that we devote a great deal of time and effort to getting right the first time. Because it can be a long wait until trial when the temporary order does not go your way.