Navigating Complex Property Division In A Divorce

In divorces involving couples with high net worth, family businesses, or compensation packages, many problems are prevalent and must be resolved:

• What is a particular asset actually worth?
• Is there a pre or post nuptial agreement?
• Was the asset or business started prior to marriage or incorporated during the marriage?
• How do we reach assets in a trust and value them?
• Have both spouses fully and accurately disclosed their income and assets?
• Should a particular asset, such as stock options be treated as income for maintenance and support purposes, or be regarded instead as marital property subject to division between the spouses?
• What, if any, are the tax implications?
• Will the asset have to be sold, and how will that be accomplished?

In addition, divorces involve problems of asset valuation or location such as:

• There is a family business the spouses own and/or operate.
• How the business is valued.
• One spouse’s separate property has been commingled during the marriage with community assets.
• One spouse has improved community assets with their separate property or taken community assets to improve their own separate property.
• One or both spouse have especially valuable or complicated investment, retirement or pension assets.

The law cannot answer all of these questions, but with the assistance of forensic accountants and appraisers, and my experience with the valuation, negotiation, and litigation of property division issues in complex divorce cases, I have and can get the proper result in negotiation or trial.

You Need A Lawyer Who Can Advance Your Interests

Whether your Tempe, Arizona, divorce will involve the valuation of family business assets, the appraisal or liquidation of art, antique, book, coin or other collections, or even the discovery of assets fraudulently concealed by your spouse, I know how to protect and advance your interests.

My undergraduate degree was in finance. I worked for a finance company after college before earning an MBA with an emphasis in finance and an LL.M. (post law master’s degree) in taxation. Few family law attorneys have obtained and use these degrees. My experience and educational background is immensely useful in identifying situations in which one party may be hiding assets in a business or in the name of a family member in order to avoid having those assets classified as community property. For additional information on these complex issues and about my ability to represent you effectively, contact me immediately.