Kurt Cobain’s acoustic guitar from the MTV Unplugged concert is legendary. The equitable distribution of Kurt’s iconic guitar was a major property division issue in the divorce between Kurt’s daughter and her husband. The case of Kurt’s guitar is now decided.
About a Girl
The divorce between Kurt Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain and her Isaiah Silva may be over, but Cobain lost a prized possession to her now Ex-Husband: her father’s famous guitar.
Isaiah claimed he owns Kurt’s former Martin D-18E guitar from the famed MTV performance. The guitar is a very rare; only 300 were made.
For the Cobains however, the guitar’s sentimental value is immeasurable, as it was the last guitar played by Kurt before his suicide.
Silva argued the model had given him the guitar as a present, while she denied ever giving it to him. That was for the judge to decide.
Florida Property Division
I’ve written about equitable distribution and various types of property divisions in Florida before. Let’s assume that the guitar was in fact a wedding gift from Frances to Isaiah.
What happens? In all likelihood, the guitar would be considered marital property, not just Isaiah’s, and would have to be equitably distributed.
In Florida, “Marital assets and liabilities” include interspousal gifts during the marriage. In divorce proceedings, the court must divide the marital assets between the parties.
Courts begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution based on certain relevant factors.
These factors include things like the contribution to the marriage by each spouse, the economic circumstances of the parties, and any interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities of either party for instance.
So, what are “marital assets and liabilities”? They include things like assets acquired during the marriage, and interspousal gifts during the marriage for instance.
However, “nonmarital assets” include things like assets acquired before the marriage, and assets acquired by non-interspousal gift. This sort of non-interspousal gift argument may have been similar to what Isaiah argued successfully in court.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Although she lost the iconic guitar in the equitable distribution, Frances did get the house they bought together, and doesn’t have to provide any spousal support; Silva had been asking for $25,000 a month.
The People article is here.