Jupiter Divorce: Dividing the House, the Dock, and the Boat

Start by establishing what you actually own. Pull the deed and the survey, and check whether the dock is an improvement on your submerged-land rights, a separately deeded slip with its own legal description, or an assignment from an association that may not be transferable at all. In some communities a slip is allocated to a resident rather than owned, which means it cannot be sold or divided — it simply reverts when the property changes hands.

Once you know, write it into the settlement in the same specific terms. A slip with its own legal description should be described that way. An association assignment should be acknowledged as what it is, so neither party is later surprised that the dock they thought they were receiving does not convey. These are small drafting points that prevent expensive arguments after a judgment is entered.

Boats are unusually bad assets to hold jointly through a divorce. They cost money continuously — dockage, insurance, bottom cleaning, service — while depreciating, and their condition depends on someone using and maintaining them. A vessel sitting unused for a year while two people argue is typically worth meaningfully less at the end of that year than the beginning, and both parties absorb the loss.

The realistic options are for one spouse to take it with an offsetting adjustment, or to sell it and divide the proceeds. Either works, provided the value is established honestly and the loan, title transfer, and registration are addressed in the agreement. What does not work is leaving it unmentioned, which is how former spouses find themselves still jointly owning a boat neither of them wants two years after the divorce is final.