1. Establish the inventory
Compose or read the asset-and-debt schedules, connect every material number to a source, foot the totals, reconcile both sides and keep unknown property visible.
2. Resolve or reserve the legal issues
Apply characterization presumptions, contribution and apportionment issues, debt rules and disclosure questions to the facts. Separate decided facts, assumptions, disputes and missing evidence.
3. Build a fundable allocation
Allocate assets and debts, preserve equal face value, model effective-value assumptions separately and test any equalizing payment against actual liquidity. Record why each party prefers the allocation.
4. Draft and implement
Generate clauses from the selected allocation, answer every human judgment question, preserve unresolved issues, and add the transfer, refinance, sale, retirement-order and filing mechanics. A settlement agreement is not itself a judgment or a completed divorce.
Continue the workflow
One matter model from disclosure through draft
Community Property is a browser-only California property workflow for FL-142 intake, reconciliation, analysis, division and guarded drafting.
What “equal division” means in a California property case
How California Family Code section 2550 relates to equal division, asset allocation and equalizing payments.
Build and check a California Schedule of Assets and Debts
A private, browser-only workspace for composing, reading and checking California form FL-142 without uploading a client filing.