High Net Worth Equitable Distribution Lawyers Bainbridge, WA
When couples have wealth, there is a high likelihood that they own a range of different assets and that is why high net worth equitable distribution lawyers in Bainbridge, WA, are there to help them through a tough time. The different assets may include business interests, offshore investments, trusts, real estate, stocks, retirement accounts, educational savings accounts, luxury vehicles, and artwork. Couples with wealth are also more likely to use people that help them manage their wealth and this simile means there’s a lot to work out when the wealthy couple divorces.
Each divorce case is unique, and this means that there could be certain complications in the process even trickier because you have wealth.
Splitting Property During a High Net Worth Divorce
Marital Property
It isn’t uncommon for high net worth couples to have accumulated substantial marital property while they were married. This can include anything earned or gained during marriage, such as vehicles, jewelry, artwork, stocks, houses, officer accounts, bonds, and much more. As long as the property was acquired during the marriage, regardless of which individual purchased it, it is still considered marital property. The biggest challenge in divorce is determining how to divide this mutually accumulated property equitably to ensure each person receives a fair value.
One thing to remember, though, is anything you owned solely before the marriage remains solely your property upon divorce as long as you can prove you had it before the marriage. This as an extra challenge when it comes to determining what is community property and what is separate property.
Equitable Distrubtion
It might be easy to think that getting a divorce means that your spouse automatically receives half of everything you own. This simply isn’t the case because if it was in the division of property would be fairly simple. Instead of that, the courts consider various financial factors to determine what an equitable distribution for both parties would look like. When it comes to the context of property division, equity and equality don’t have the same definition. Equality means everything is split evenly, while equity means you both get what you need and deserve.
To ensure that there is an equitable division of assets, all property must be disclosed by both individuals involved in the divorce. If someone believes that the others attempting to hide assets, then another party needs to be pulled to identify any discrepancies during the disclosure process and verify that all property is properly disclosed. This can easily complicate the matter and make things go on longer than necessary. It is why disclosing everything is so important even if you feel you have the right to certain property.
When it comes to divorce, it is never easy. When you add wealth it gets complicated and that is why high net worth equitable distribution lawyers in Bainbridge, WA on the team at Robinson & Hadeed are ready and willing to answer any other questions you have about your divorce.
