High Net Worth Divorces and Division of Property in St. Louis, Mo

High Net Worth Divorces and Division of Property

If you and your spouse are seeking a divorce and you share a high net worth with many assets, you need a divorce attorney St Louis that is experienced in these types of divorces to decide on the separation of property in a fair manner.

Experienced Divorce Attorneys Needed for High Net Worth

Many couples that are facing a divorce are reluctant to do so if they have ample resources that will be divided between the two spouses. It doesn’t create a better marriage in this case but instead adds more fuel to the fire. Complex property division issues include the division of real estate, professional practices, deferred income and pensions, business interests and investment accounts.

I Can’t Afford to get a Divorce in St. Louis, Mo

Many people are concerned about getting a divorce and are not willing to give up their assets to the other spouse. These people believe that they have far too much to lose in a divorce and they avoid damage to all their assets in this manner. The reality is that even if a person has complex or sophisticated assets, they can always afford to get divorced. The goal of an experienced attorney is to put you in the strongest financial position at the time of and after your divorce. This is done with a complex reliable network of financial analysts, business valuation specialists and forensic accountants that can provide expert testimony in your divorce hearing to support your case and your assets.

Hiding Assets

Many times a couple has a small business that seems to be doing well financially and one of the two handles all the accounting books. When a divorce is imminent, it is common for the spouse that handles the financial information to say the business wasn’t doing well if they are hiding assets in order not to award them to a spouse in a divorce. This is against the law and unethical. Spouses face harsh penalties for this and it can include having 100 percent of the hidden assets given to the injured party. Choosing an experienced attorney with high net worth divorces can protect your interests to the fullest extent and will involve accountants and conduct investigations to protect their client’s interest.

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Professional Practices and Businesses

Valuing businesses and professional practices takes experience because of the extreme difficulty in doing so. Divorce attorneys work hard to help clients gain an accurate picture of the business’s value and to determine the right strategy for property division in the case of divorce. A focus on family law with in-depth knowledge of statutes and case law will achieve the best possible results. Much of the value of a business is in the individual’s contribution, but not in interests or merchandise that can be easily divided. A business evaluation is based on financial information such as tax information, balance sheets, and financial statements as well as a list of assets. If the business owner has a controlling interest in the company, it can change the value of a business from nothing to a very significant amount.

Maintaining a Lifestyle

In most high net worth marriages in, both of the spouses become accustomed to a level of financial comfort in their day-to-day lives. When a marriage ends, the assets from the marriage should be divided in a manner so that each spouse maintains a relatively equivalent lifestyle when the divorce is finalized. The courts in the state of Missouri, take this issue very seriously. The court has to approve every agreement between the spouses in property division to make certain one spouse doesn’t get a disproportionate share of the marital estate.

Vocational Examinations

In the event of a divorce, a vocational examination may be done on a spouse that is currently not working to determine the earning potential of a spouse that is capable of working. This greatly affects the child support and spousal support proceedings. A vocational examination can be requested by either spouse. It can help a working spouse to get more child support from a non-working parent or on the other hand, if you are paying excessive child support because your spouse will not find adequate work, it can lower your child support payments so you don’t have to carry the entire burden yourself.

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Delayed Compensation Division

It’s becoming more common for people to receive part of their compensation or severance package as delayed compensation. This can cause quite an upset in a divorce case. One spouse may argue that the money earned was for work during the course of the marriage and the other receiving spouse can argue that it should be separate property because it is not earned income until after the property settlement is finalized. Missouri is an equitable division state and in so being, it is actually up to the judge when applying the law to delayed compensation.

Overseas Assets

Many high net worth couples that are married can store money in overseas accounts or have a stake in an offshore business to use as a tax shelter. One spouse may have brought the assets into the marriage and wants it to be determined as separate property in a divorce settlement. In some situations, the controlling spouse of the financial dealings will hide this from the other and they have no idea that an overseas asset exists. In all divorce proceedings, it is required by law to disclose any and all assets to be classified as either marital property or separate property. You need a divorce attorney St. Louis that is highly experienced to find any overseas assets with the knowledge to determine the full, appreciated values of any overseas investment and the ability to characterize it as separate or marital property.

In a potential divorce case of a couple with high net worth, you definitely need to seek the advice of an attorney with all the experience and tools to help you to understand all the aspects and get you the best outcome possible.

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