In a Divorce, An Attorney Needs to Make Sure Their Interests are Protected with the Help of an Irvine Divorce Law Firm

As a lawyer, you know the importance of quality legal advice. Depending on your area of practice, you may also have some familiarity with California’s divorce laws. You know that divorcing spouses are required to divide their community property equally. You might know that spouses who earn less are generally entitled to alimony. In any case, you know that achieving a favorable result is as much about executing an effective strategy as it is about knowing the law.

At Seastrom Tuttle & Murphy, we bring decades of experience to representing California lawyers in divorce. Our practice is largely devoted to representing high-net-worth spouses, including lawyers and other business owners and professionals. As a result, we are intimately familiar with the unique issues involved with partnership, division of sizable retirement and securities accounts, and other high-value assets, and we are able to effectively and efficiently represent our clients as they continue to devote the majority of their time and attention to their practices.

Protecting Your Assets and Income in Your Divorce

As a high-net-worth individual, you have a lot to protect in your divorce. Unfortunately, unless you have a prenuptial agreement, you will not be able to protect everything. California is one of the few remaining states that adheres to a true “community property” law that requires divorcing spouses to divide their shared estate down the middle. Similarly, California’s alimony law focuses includes consideration of both spouse’s standard of living; and, while this law does not require an equal split of post-divorce income, it does generally require high-earning lawyers and other professionals to provide financial support to their former spouses.

Protecting Your Practice or Partnership Interest

If you own your own legal practice, or if you are a partner in a large or mid-size firm, your ownership interest in your practice could be on the table in your divorce as a component of your community estate. For divorce purposes, business ownership interests are treated similarly to other types of property. Even if you owned your practice or were elevated to partner prior to your marriage, it is still possible that at least a portion of your interest could be subject to division in your divorce. Again, we have specific experience in this area, and we can work with you to protect your ownership interest and the autonomy of your practice to the fullest extent possible.

Preserving Your Relationship with Your Children

Finally, if you have minor children, preserving your relationship with your children can present some unique challenges as well. California law places mothers and fathers on an equal playing field with regard to custody (or “parenting time”), but your spouse may try to use the fact that you work long hours against you. We are familiar with these kinds of arguments, and we have had significant success securing our clients’ desired parenting time rights. To learn more, schedule a confidential initial consultation today.

Schedule a Confidential Initial Consultation at Seastrom Tuttle & Murphy

With offices in Orange County, we represent lawyers in divorce throughout Southern California. If you are ready to get started, call us at 949-474-0800 or contact us online now.