High Asset Divorce Lawyers

Navigating the complexities of a high asset divorce

A high asset divorce presents several unique challenges compared to divorces involving fewer assets. Some of these challenges include:

1. Complex Asset Division: High asset divorces often involve numerous assets such as real estate, businesses, investments, retirement accounts, and valuable possessions. Determining how to fairly divide these assets can be complex and contentious.

2. Valuation Issues: Assigning accurate values to assets like businesses, stocks, art collections, and other investments can be challenging. Disagreements over valuation can prolong the divorce process.

3. Tax Implications: The division of assets in a high asset divorce can have significant tax implications. Properly understanding and addressing these implications is crucial to avoid unnecessary tax burdens.

4. Spousal Support and Alimony: In high asset divorces, determining appropriate spousal support or alimony can be contentious, especially if there’s a significant income disparity between the spouses.

5. Privacy Concerns: High-profile individuals may be concerned about maintaining their privacy during divorce proceedings, especially if the details of their financial affairs become public.

6. Business Ownership: If one or both spouses own businesses, determining each party’s interest in the business and how to handle its future can be complex. This may involve business valuation, buyouts, or continued co-ownership arrangements.

7. Prenuptial Agreements: High asset divorces often involve prenuptial agreements, which can impact the division of assets and other aspects of the divorce. Enforcing or challenging the validity of a prenup adds another layer of complexity.

8. Emotional Toll: Dealing with the dissolution of a marriage is emotionally challenging in any circumstance, but the added stress of managing significant financial assets can exacerbate the emotional toll on both parties.

9. Legal Costs: High asset divorces tend to be more expensive due to the complexity of financial issues involved. Legal fees can accumulate quickly, especially if the divorce proceedings become protracted or contentious.

Identify your fair share

Nevada is a community property state. This means all assets and debts acquired during the marriage belong to both spouses equally. So, when it comes to dividing marital property, both spouses get a 50-50 share.

Property and assets have to be accurately valued before they can be divided.

Herein lies the challenge: accurately valuing these assets. Substantial assets, large estates, and family-owned businesses will undergo scrutiny to ensure fair division and distribution.

Furthermore, the differentiation between marital and separate property becomes complex, especially with commingling of assets.

As you can imagine, determining asset division can be complicated for high net worth couples that own substantial money, property, investments, businesses, valuable possessions, and other forms of wealth.

Further complicating matters, identifying your assets can become challenging if your spouse is attempting to conceal them through methods such as offshore accounts, transferring assets to friends or family, underreporting income, overpaying debts, creating complex trust arrangements, or establishing shell companies.

Hence, it’s important to hire a high asset divorce attorney like those at Smith Legal Group experienced in such cases, who doesn’t hesitate to bring in outside experts to conduct financial forensic analysis to uncover evidence of fraud or misconduct.

Keep what you own

Another challenge that arises in a high net worth divorce is determining who has ownership over an asset.

Sometimes, ownership is not clear. For instance, a family business that one spouse built before the marriage may still be subject to division if the other spouse has played a critical role in its growth.

In such situations, a high net worth divorce attorney can work with business evaluators to accurately value the asset.