Monmouth County High-Asset Divorce Lawyer
Divorce can be an emotionally painful and distressing experience. The economic consequences of your decisions during this time can be substantial. The situation becomes even more intricate when your marital estate includes significant assets. In these circumstances, you should engage the services of an attorney with experience handling the specific challenges of high-asset divorces.
You should avoid taking any chances when it comes to protecting your rights and hard-earned assets. A Monmouth County high-asset divorce lawyer can guide you through each stage of the divorce process and ensure you receive what is rightfully yours.
The Basics of High-Asset Divorces
Divorces where one or both spouses have high-value or complex assets tend to be more involved than other divorces. Whether the value is generated from high incomes, business interests, cultivation of investments, or inheritances, marital estates with substantial assets (generally with an estimated total value of one million or more) may face additional complications during the divorce process.
Many of these issues center on the complicated process of identifying and valuing each asset. Some assets may be challenging to locate because of complex business interests and tax frameworks. For high-value estates, this process is time consuming and may require the input of specialized experts such as forensic accountants and appraisers. Anyone with significant financial interests facing divorce should consider consulting a lawyer to navigate the unique issues involved in Monmouth County high-asset divorces as early as possible.
Special Considerations in High Net-Worth Divorces
When divorcing spouses with high incomes have children, child support may become a contentious issue. In these situations, a court considers how a child could benefit from parents with enhanced financial means, including private school and expensive extracurricular activities. The judge will place an emphasis on maintaining the child’s previous standard of living regardless of who gets primary custody.
Alimony may also become a contentious issue if one of the spouses was dependent on the other spouse for financial support and funding the marital lifestyle. The judge will place an emphasis on ensuring the dependent spouse will be able to maintain a standard of living reasonably comparable to what they enjoyed during marriage post-divorce. Determining what that standard of living exactly is may also require a special expert.
A divorce attorney can also help investigate assets that should be included in the marital estate and ensure these assets are divided fairly and equitably.
Property Division
New Jersey family law courts use equitable distribution to distribute property in divorces, regardless of how much a marital estate is worth. This means the judge determines a fair—and not necessarily equal—distribution of marital assets and debts between divorcing spouses.
Marital Property
Marital property includes all property either spouse acquired during the marriage, except in certain situations such as gifts and inheritances from third parties. Real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, stock options and other deferred compensation, business and partnership interests, overseas assets, luxury cars and boats, fine art, and collectibles are all assets that may be subject to division. Debts like loans and credit card debt may also be part of a marital estate.
Separate Property
Each spouse has the right to keep their separate property—which typically includes any belongings acquired before the marriage. Gifted property, inheritances, and property acquired after the divorce filing may also fall into this category. However, exceptions and nuances can apply. For example, separate property can become marital property by being mixed into the marital estate or if it has increased in value throughout the marriage.
Assets identified as separate property in a valid prenuptial agreement may be exempt from the marital estate. However, a prenup could be challenged as unenforceable. These areas of contention in high-asset divorces are best handled by a Monmouth County lawyer.
Prenuptial Agreements
It is not uncommon for someone with substantial assets entering into a marriage to insist that their spouse-to-be sign a prenuptial agreement. Prenuptial agreements are intended to define the spouse’s rights and dictate what happens if the parties end up in divorce. A high-asset divorce attorney can ensure that prenuptial agreements are followed in the divorce process.
Contact a Monmouth County High-Asset Divorce Attorney
When you have worked hard to build your business or otherwise came into a marriage with significant assets, you want to ensure you are treated fairly in the divorce. You want to start your new life with your fair share of the marital estate.
A Monmouth County high-asset divorce lawyer is familiar with the potential challenges that arise during divorces involving substantial wealth and can help you fight for what you deserve. Call Moskowitz Law Group to speak with a dedicated family law attorney.
