Complex and High Asset Divorce

If you are going through a divorce and have a high net-worth with physical and intangible assets, a divorce can be a very complex and complicated process.

California is a Community Property state.  This means that all assets, whether physical or not, that are acquired during the course of the marriage are split equally during a divorce. 

When you have a substantial amount of assets, just appraising everything to get a true value of the assets can be a long and contentious process.  Since appraisals can fluctuate due to internal and external forces, it is important to get the most up to date appraisal of property, either through a court-accepted website, a Comparative Market Analysis, an Appraiser, or even by agreement of both parties.  In most cases, when discussing property, it is usually in reference to real estate.  In a High-asset divorce, there may be other valuable assets, such as vacation homes, cars, boats, businesses, stocks, insurance policies and art collections.  Each of things, as community property, has to be properly appraised in order to satisfy the community property laws.

Besides physical assets, there are also intangible assets that also fall under these rules.  These intangibles can include: patents, trademarks, and copyrights.  Things like learned skills or business relationships may also be taken into account as these can be turned into profit as well.

In a lot of cases, when dealing with high-asset divorces, there is also debt that has to be dealt with.  As with assets, debt is also divided between the parties.

These divorces take more than just judges and experienced family law attorneys.  In a lot of cases, there are other professionals that are brought in to work through the details of the assets including tax experts and certified public accountants.

If you are in a high net-worth family and are going through a divorce, it is vital to have a Certified Family Law Specialist on your side. Division of assets can be a sensitive and emotional process. Tracy Duell-Cazes is experienced in working on high-asset complex divorces.  Let Tracy work with you so the process remains organized and controlled.  Call Tracy Duell-Cazes at 408-267-8484 to discuss your divorce and how the divorce will proceed based on the number of accumulated assets.