Marital assets – per the meaning of the Family Law, these are all properties and profits, achieved during the term of marriage. These can not be divided between spouses, who are considered as equal co-owners until bigger role of one of them is proved during divorce case. The nature of the marital assets expires with termination of the marriage, where the spouses are considered only as normal co-owners who are entitled to split the properties on equal basis.

See also http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/propertydistribution/f/propertydistr.htm