The court will look at why the debt was incurred, who benefitted from the debt, when and how the debt came to be, and who is better able to pay the debt. Normally, if a debt is tied to a piece of personal property, such as a couch or a laptop, then whichever spouse is keeping the property will also take the associated debt. Secured debts such as a mortgage for real property will either have to be refinanced so that only one spouse remains on the debt, or the property can be sold and the debt extinguished. If the debt is unsecured and was used on normal and routine living expenses, it may end up being divided equally unless there are alimony considerations or a large disparity of income.