Dividing Property in a Divorce
19-A M.R.S. § 953 — each spouse's own property set apart, and marital property divided as is just
The court sets apart to each spouse that spouse's own property and divides the marital property in the proportions it considers just, weighing each spouse's contribution, a homemaker's included, the value of what each keeps, each one's economic circumstances, including the home for the parent with the children, and economic abuse.
Who handles this in Maine: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Maine directory.
- Marital property is what either spouse acquired during the marriage, whoever holds the title.
- Not marital: gifts and inheritances, what was traded for property owned before the marriage or inherited, what came after a legal separation, and what the spouses validly agreed to exclude.
- Growth in value of separate property from market forces is not marital, but growth from marital money or marital labor is.
Sources for this section (1)
- 19-A M.R.S. § 953 — Disposition of property
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Maine attorney.