Season tickets for the Seattle Seahawks are in such demand that even the waiting list is full at 12,000. If you put your name on the waiting list today, it could be years and years before you get tickets of your own. Even season tickets for the Seattle Sounders, Washington Huskies, and the Seattle Mariners are in high demand.
So yes, deciding who gets the season tickets in divorce is important to a lot of sports fans.
Couples generally have a few options when addressing their season tickets:
- One spouse buys out the other's share.
- Sell the tickets and split the proceeds.
- Divide the tickets evenly between the parties (each party gets the tickets for four of the eight Seahawks home games, for example).
If I Bought the Tickets, Why Do I Have to Divide Them?
Washington is a community property state, meaning that assets – like season tickets – purchased during marriage are divisible in a divorce. If you purchased the season tickets during your marriage, then they are divisible.
But if you purchased them prior to your marriage, then they are separate property and they remain your property.
Scenarios That Allow the Couple to Keep the Tickets in the Family
Some couples could come up with an agreement that lets them divide the tickets between them. Here are a few scenarios they might use.
- Certain number of games allocated to each party during the regular season. For example, each spouse gets the tickets for every other game. Or one spouse gets the tickets for first half of season and the other for the second half of the season.
- Right of first refusal for playoff games rotates. For example, the husband has the right of first refusal for a first playoff game, then the wife, then the husband, and so on.
There may be other terms and conditions that could work depending on each of your schedules and your ability to compromise during property division negotiations.
How Buyouts Work for Season Tickets
Sometimes, one spouse is not interested in retaining the tickets. Or one spouse chooses to let the tickets go in exchange for ownership of other marital property.
In this case, the spouse who wishes to keep the tickets would buy the other's share. Or the season tickets would be an asset like any other and go towards one spouse's equitable division of the total marital property.
We help our clients identify the assets that are most important to them and then review the options they have to get their fair share during property division negotiations. Let our experienced Washington divorce attorney help you address your season tickets and other marital assets. Contact me today at 425-460-0550.
