I’m talking like one person brought in all the money for a decade, then a divorce happens. Some of it makes sense - a house with mortgage, one spouse buys the other out of the house. Which is great, but if one spouse doesn’t have the income to take a loan out to buy the other, does that mean that the spouse who does have the income has the choice to buy out or sell?
Similarly, things like 401ks and pensions I imagine you can’t just take out half the cash in them and give that to their spouse. Or does that have to be a loan for the amounts in those plans?
Is it debt all the way down for both?
Generally there’s a legally-enforced payment structure over time rather than a one-time cash out. The earner will generally owe the domestic partner a portion of her income, including pension, until the other’s income catches up. Typically with large financial assets like homes, the asset will be sold and the proceeds split, but sometimes one can afford to buy the other out.