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Dividing up everything you own and owe can be beyond difficult. Especially when there is a lot to divide. Fortunately, Los Angeles County couples can count on the assistance of divorce lawyer Jordana Better when dealing with the division of their assets.
One of the toughest parts of getting divorced is untangling your financial lives. And yet, in addition to figuring out new living arrangements and payments, you also have to go through and split everything you own, sometimes right down the middle.
Los Angeles County, like the rest of California, will demand that every divorcing couple divide their marital assets and property during the divorce. Most of the time, this will be an even split, but that does not mean each asset or property will be divided 50/50. It means that the final agreement must be fair and offer close to equal (unless the court decides otherwise) value to each spouse.
This division of assets can quickly get complicated, as divorce attorney Jordana Better has seen time and time again, especially during high-net-worth divorces. After all, the more you have accumulated and shared, the more there will be to divide, and the more important it will be that you have a lawyer to help ensure your rights and interests are protected during the asset division process.
Fortunately and unfortunately, not all of your assets need to be divided. Fortunately, you get to keep some that are genuinely yours intact, but unfortunately, it adds another layer of complication. These are complications that an unscrupulous partner may be trying to take advantage of to cheat you, too.
In California, and thus in Los Angeles, only Marital Property, also called Community Property, needs to be divided. This category includes everything acquired during your marriage, with some exceptions. Individual inheritances, gifts, and property or assets you already owned before the marriage are generally considered individual or separate property and thus do not need to be divided.
But marital community property is not limited to the houses or cars you may have purchased; it also includes bank accounts and even businesses. Under California law, it is assumed that if one spouse was able to earn more than the other, it was with the support and aid of the other. Just like Jeff Bezos, it doesn't matter if you poured your heart into building a business or an empire; a good portion of it may very well soon belong to your ex.
These categories are not always obvious, and other factors can complicate the division of assets process. This is why it is so important to consult an experienced lawyer before getting divorced in Los Angeles County.
On the most obvious level, larger fortunes will inherently require more effort to divide. The more property you have together or apart, the more property will need to be tracked, evaluated, negotiated over, sold and divided.
In addition, divorce lawyer Jordana Better has noted a number of other factors that often make the division of assets more complicated for high-net-worth couples in the County of Los Angeles.
Companies and businesses are often an important part of wealthier families’ assets, and these, too, need to be divided. If the business was created during the marriage, half of it may very well be owed to your spouse. If it was created beforehand but grew significantly during that period, the difference in value needs to be divided.
This process is further complicated by the ephemeral nature of modern businesses. Gone are the days when the value could easily be decided by adding up its hard assets like real estate, machinery, or yearly profits. Intellectual property and the value of the brand itself need to be taken into consideration, which becomes both increasingly important and increasingly difficult as the company or business scales in size.
If you want to avoid losing control or ownership of the company, careful negotiations are needed to prevent the business from being divided along with other assets. Sometimes, this will mean trading different property for them or buying the other spouse’s interest. In either case, a skilled divorce lawyer will be required to ensure your property and interests are secured.
Debts are also a form of asset, just a negative one. They also tend to come hand in hand with wealth. After all, the more you own, the more you can afford to borrow. Unfortunately, they also need to be divided, even if one spouse was primarily responsible for their acquisition.
Whether these are personal debts, credit card debts, mortgages, or other liabilities, they need to be included, and if possible, divided evenly as part of your divorce settlement or division of asset agreement. In Los Angeles, some spouses may choose to take on more debts and liabilities in exchange for keeping additional assets or properties.
Such solutions are an excellent example of how an experienced divorce lawyer can help turn complications into advantages and help you secure an outcome that better protects your interests.
Sometimes, assets that would normally be considered part of the marital or common property will be excluded if both spouses at some point agreed that they should be. This is most often done with a prenuptial agreement signed before the marriage, but can sometimes also be done with a postnuptial agreement even after the knot has been tied. So long as both of you have signed the agreement, the court will at least consider it.
Prenuptial agreements are far more common for the wealthy, as one or both partners may be entering the marriage with consequential assets of one type or another. Los Angeles County couples that become wealthy or accumulate significant wealth during their marriage may also be more inclined to add a post-nuptial agreement. This means you may need to discuss your situation and agreement with an attorney before even starting the divorce process.
It is important to note, however, that marital agreements like these are not always 100% binding, however. Some things cannot be included or given away, such as child custody or support, and if one party signed it under duress or there was deceit involved in the process, doubt can be cast on it and the document or some of its constraints contested.
Jordana Better | Protecting your interests and property during the division of assets in Los Angeles County.
The division of assets is such an important part of your divorce, like child custody, that it will continue to affect you far into the future and possibly for the rest of your life. As a result, it is not something you want to leave entirely up to chance, a judge, or, worst of all, your ex. To ensure that your property is protected and your interests preserved during the division of assets, you need a good divorce lawyer.
In Los Angeles County, you can count on the experience, discretion, and financial insights of attorney Jordana Better to help you throughout the divorce process, including the division of assets. To schedule a consultation, just call or reach out online, and take the first step toward your new life without sacrificing any more than you have to.
