Best Practices in an Orange County High Asset Divorce

Navigating a high asset divorce makes a difficult situation that much more stressful, as each party aims to keep their high standard of living intact. With a dizzying number of bank accounts, real property, and complex financial and business structures to sort through, a high net worth divorce is quite an undertaking for all parties involved. California’s laws around determining property division and spousal and child support – generally straightforward in a standard divorce – become far more complex when all of these different types of assets come into play. Hiring an experienced Irvine divorce attorney is the only way to ensure you receive a fair and equitable distribution once your marriage has ended. 

The most important thing to remember during a high asset divorce is that knowledge is power. You should go into the process knowing what to expect and where you can find crucial information to achieve a balanced result. Check out some of our tips for ensuring you achieve the outcome you deserve.

Understand What Constitutes Marital Property in California

Marital property in California can be somewhat murky, particularly in the absence of a prenuptial agreement or when a couple has been married for an extensive period of time. Marital property is any asset acquired during the marriage and does not include property acquired either before the parties were married or after a formal separation was declared. Inheritances and gifts are not considered marital property, but rather belong to the spouse to whom those gifts were bestowed. 

Assets such as the marital home, bank and retirement accounts, jewelry, art, vehicles, businesses, and other investments will likely all be considered marital property, so having a clear sense of the value of each will be fundamental to your case. Do not rely on your former spouse’s appraisal alone – it’s important to hire your own experts to assess the total worth of these assets, so you can come prepared to the negotiation with a clear picture of what you’re owed during an equitable distribution of assets.

Rely on an Irvine Divorce Attorney to Handle Your High Asset Divorce

One of the benefits of being a high net worth individual is that you can afford to hire the best professionals in the field in order to fight for what you deserve. An experienced Irvine divorce attorney will understand the precise steps needed to achieve a favorable outcome in a divorce, and will likely recommend that you hire outside consultants to ensure that your standard of living, business, and assets are protected during this sometimes bitter battle. From hiring accountants and tax professionals to realtors and estate planning lawyers, these consultants will help you establish the value of marital and outside property. They will additionally counsel you on important matters such as assessing your business’s total debt obligations and opportunities for minimizing your spouse’s claim to the company, navigating complicated estate planning and taxation structures implemented to minimize your total obligations or ensure that any real property that must be liquidated earns the highest amount possible at the sale.

Contact a knowledgeable Irvine divorce attorney today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What matters most in the early stage of a high-asset divorce?

Getting the financial record built before positions harden. That means assembling documents while access is straightforward, establishing a defensible date of separation, obtaining temporary orders that address support and the payment of household and business expenses during the case, and retaining the right forensic accountant early rather than after the other side has framed the numbers. Cases are usually decided by whose financial record is more complete, and that record is easiest to build at the beginning.

Which experts are actually needed?

It depends on the estate, and the answer should be deliberate rather than reflexive. A forensic accountant is nearly always required where there is a business, self-employment, or variable compensation, both to value the enterprise and to determine income available for support. Real estate appraisers are needed for properties, and specialty appraisers for art, collections, or unusual holdings. A vocational evaluator matters where earning capacity is disputed. Adding experts that the disputed issues do not require is one of the more common ways cost outruns benefit.

How is cost controlled in a complex case?

By sequencing the work and narrowing the disputes. Documents before depositions, so testimony is taken against records rather than in the hope of obtaining them. A jointly retained neutral expert where both sides will accept one, which costs roughly half of two competing experts. Stipulating to the values that are not genuinely in dispute so the expert work concentrates where the money actually is. And addressing the process choice early, because resolving the contested financial issues in mediation or before a private judge is generally faster and cheaper than a trial calendar.

What are the most common mistakes in a high-asset divorce?

Agreeing to a division before the valuations are done, which is how a spouse accepts numbers no one has tested. Trading assets with the same nominal balance without establishing whether their differing cost basis was accounted for, since California courts divide value rather than after-tax value unless a party raises the tax and proves it. Ignoring liquidity, so an equalizing payment is owed with no source to fund it. Moving or restructuring assets after filing, which the restraining orders prohibit and the disclosure rules expose. And under-documenting a separate-property tracing claim, which is the most frequent way a legitimate claim is lost.