Going through the divorce process is a deeply emotional time. Sadly, it’s also the time to have a cool head in place to protect your rights and safeguard your assets, especially for divorcing spouses in high-asset divorces. One of the best benefits of hiring an attorney to navigate your high-asset divorce is that they are not emotionally involved in the breakup of the marriage. Instead, they can zero in on the financial aspects of your divorce. This includes the protection of your separate assets and ensuring you get your share of every marital asset that you’re entitled to under California’s equal division of marital property law.
No one should navigate a California divorce alone, particularly those with substantial, diverse assets. Untangling assets during divorce is a complex process. There are many ways a divorce attorney with experience in high-asset divorces can benefit you during every stage of your divorce.
Avoiding Common Financial Issues By Hiring a High-Asset Divorce Lawyer
Some spouses with substantial assets attempt to hide or disburse assets during a divorce to avoid giving their spouse their equal share. If you think this is a risk, your high-asset divorce lawyer can request the courts issue an Automatic Temporary Restraining Order (ATRO) to freeze assets so your spouse cannot hide them. This prevents either spouse from transferring or selling property, taking out loans against property, or making changes to bank or investment accounts. An ATRO provides the additional benefit of making it easier to track down all assets during the discovery period when both spouses must fully disclose their full financial assets.
Another common financial issue that arises during high-asset divorces occurs when one spouse faces a significant change in lifestyle during the separation and divorce. An attorney can put in a request for temporary spousal support payments made from one spouse to the other, such as in situations where one spouse had the majority of financial control during the marriage.
The Importance of Accurate Valuation of Property
Your high-asset divorce lawyer can work with financial experts to ensure an accurate valuation of all separate and community assets. Before it’s possible to divide and distribute marital property evenly between both spouses, it’s necessary to know the full value of all assets. This becomes challenging in high-asset divorces because attorneys for both sides may arrive at differing values of the same property to better meet each spouse’s desired goals and outcomes during the division of their property. A skilled high-asset attorney can help resolve these common issues.
What Can A High Asset Divorce Attorney Do For Me?
A high-asset divorce lawyer can help navigate the challenges unique to high-asset spouses such as the following:
- Equally distributing real property, including marital homes, vacation homes, and rental properties
- Dividing investment portfolios and retirement accounts
- Protect your separate assets
- Minimizing tax implications
- Handle trusts and college savings plans held for the benefit of children
- Distributing valuables such as luxury cars, artwork, boats, RVs, and household furnishings
- Protecting family heirlooms and inherited wealth
- Determining their client’s fair share of any separate property that increased in value during the marriage or property that became commingled during the marriage
If you and your spouse have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, a high-asset divorce attorney will help enforce the terms of the agreement.
Finally, if you and your spouse have substantial assets, it’s likely that your spouse has hired an attorney or intends to hire an attorney. You must have an experienced high-asset lawyer defending your rights and supporting your best interests throughout the process.