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What is the Difference Between a Regular Divorce and a High-Asset Divorce?
At their most basic, all divorces involve the same central situation: two people are married and no longer want to be. However, how divorce is handled legally makes all the difference in how much time, effort, money, and focus it takes. While an uncontested divorce can be fast and relatively easy, a contested divorce means the process will take longer and potentially be more volatile.
Other essential factors come into play when a divorce involves significant amounts of money, property, and other assets. What might have been simple and straightforward in an uncontested divorce, or even slightly more complex in a contested divorce, becomes much more involved and detail-oriented. More assets mean more work to create a comprehensive accounting and compromise on how all those assets will be fairly divided. When one relationship member is the primary breadwinner, transparent and fair division can be challenging for both parties. That’s why it’s ideal to partner with a trusted legal team like Mulembo Law to ensure that a competent and experienced attorney is by your side to get you the outcome you deserve and have earned.
What are the Important Factors in a High-Asset Divorce?
Unlike a standard divorce, in which most decisions lie in how to split custody for children and how to divide the house, vehicles, and bank account, a high-asset divorce has several factors in play. While you still have to decide about your home, you must also make decisions about any other real estate, from second or vacation homes to rental properties.
Any business interests you are involved in or invested in must be evaluated. This includes ownership percentages, stock shares, and other business assets or holdings. You may have several vehicles and bank accounts, more than the average divorce, which must be sorted and evaluated. There is the question of pensions and personal items such as jewelry and artwork that are more valuable than the average household asset. And finally, the discussion of any debt incurred in the marriage will need to be assessed and allotted.
Even the discussion of child custody and support can be different in high-asset divorces. If the ex-spouses plan to live farther away from each other, the issue of shared custody becomes complicated, as do conversations about vacations and overseas travel. For all these reasons and many more, high-asset divorces are considerably more complex.
How is Spousal Support Dealt with in a High-Asset Divorce?
Spousal support is a key factor that needs to be settled during a high-asset divorce. This is because, more often than not, one or the other of the spouses is the primary breadwinner in the relationship. Because of this, the expectation that both spouses would be able to leave the relationship with no support is not likely.
Many factors play into the final decision on who will pay and who will receive any type of spousal support, as well as what the amount would be. The first factor is, of course, the amount that each makes. However, there are other factors at play as well. For instance, whether one spouse helped and supported the other, financially or otherwise, through specialized schooling or throughout their career, can impact the support amount. The same is true for how long the relationship has lasted, with spouses who have been together for many years having a more substantial claim for higher spousal support.
Are There Any Assets That Aren’t Divided During a High-Asset Divorce?
When it comes to property division during a high-asset divorce, the conversation should always start with one important truth: no party involved in a divorce should ever attempt to hide or obscure assets from the other spouse or the court during a divorce. Any reasonable attorney should advise you that complete transparency is the only proper and legal way to navigate a divorce. Aside from the fact that it is the right thing to disclose all assets, doing otherwise is against the law.
When you hide assets during a divorce, you are not hiding them from just your spouse, but also the court. That means it rises to the level of perjury, which is punishable by fines and potentially even jail time. So, it’s always best to be transparent in asset division matters.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to protect assets from division. In some instances, one or the other in a marriage should retain all ownership of an asset. If the asset predates the marriage, or if it was a gift or inheritance earmarked explicitly by the giver as intended solely for one spouse, they have reason to withhold it from division. For a detailed list of all these exceptions, it’s best to speak with an experienced high-asset divorce attorney.
Do I Need an Attorney for My High-Asset Divorce?
As with many aspects of divorce and family law in the state of Arizona, the court does not require that you have an attorney assist you in your high-asset divorce. However, the many concerns, challenges, and details mentioned throughout this article clarify why having excellent legal representation is absolutely in your best interests.
First, there are several complicated technical details of the law that the average person is unaware of but still affected by, and you don’t want to be impacted by rules and guidelines of which you’re not even aware. Secondly, there are often heightened emotions from both parties involved when dealing with a divorce. Whether entirely reasonable or completely unfounded, bringing things like previous arguments and grudges into the divorce conversation makes everything more difficult and likely to create a longer and more acrimonious process.
That’s why it’s ideal to work with a passionate and loyal legal team like Mulembo Law, who can stand by you throughout the process to provide the critical details that explain the process and provide the neutral third-party view otherwise missing from a very fraught personal experience. We’re ready to be that voice of experience and perspective to help you preserve your finances and future prospects beyond your high-asset divorce. Call us at 520-462-5110 today, and we can get started helping you create your ideal tomorrow.
