Going through a divorce is not an easy process, even at the best of times. After all, if you are divorcing someone, you presumably cared about your spouse. However, in a fair number of divorce cases, they are not only fairly contentious, but also carry a lot of risk when it comes to your assets. When you are dealing with a high asset divorce, there are issues that will commonly come up, which we will discuss below.
What are predictable issues in a high asset divorce in Manhattan?
The first issue one may face in a high asset divorce is a rather obvious one: the more assets you have to distribute, the more disputes that are possible to have. Not only that, but it means that you will have to spend more time and energy to figure out who should get what from the divorce. Depending on how things go, the split from the divorce can prove to be rather devastating if you lose a significant chunk of your assets. There are different circumstances that may come into play to determine how assets are distributed, and how much each person gets in the split. This is going to vary from state to state, so be sure to consult with a Manhattan High Asset Divorce Attorney who can help you understand how things work in that area.
The best way to figure it out is to consult with a lawyer beforehand. This will help you get ahead of any potential hurdles before they become a problem. A good attorney not only is well versed in divorce law, but also has a low of experience with respect to many kinds of divorce cases. No divorce attorney is perfect; even the best divorce attorney is going to lose a case from time to time. However, an important thing to know is that every case is good experience, win or lose. Winning tells you the right things to do, and losing teaches you the wrong things to do. All of this first-hand experience will serve to help inform you of the risks that you will have to face.
Spousal maintenance
Spousal maintenance payments become a much more significant issue in a high asset divorce case. And given the fact that it’s an issue in smaller divorce cases as well, this should speak volumes. When there is a significant sum of money involved in a divorce case, it becomes that much more complicated to estimate the amount of money that each person has, and how much each person is worth. One of the reasons for this is the fact that it is not uncommon in cases like these for one or both spouses to conceal information about their finances. This may include hiding their money in bank accounts that the other spouse is unaware of, or simply concealing ownership of certain property and other assets from them. Whether these are found will make a big difference in terms of payment.
A divorce often involves someone who works outside the home for a wage, while the other person takes care of the home. In a divorce, the working spouse may conceal how much they own or how much they earn in order to have to pay as little in spousal maintenance as possible. This is a practice that occurs in other types of payment as well, so be wary if you are in that position.
Division of marital property
How property division is handled is going to vary from place to place. In Manhattan, only property obtained during the marriage can be included in divisible assets, so any property obtained before the marriage is exempt. The goal of marital distribution is to ensure that the distribution is equitable. Meaning that when all is said and done, both parties should leave the marriage with, at minimum, what they need to live comfortably (or as comfortably as they possibly can be, given the circumstances). Being equitable means that you shouldn’t simply expect a perfect 50/50 split. Certain factors will influence how it is divided, including length of marriage, the spouses’ assets both before marriage and when they filed for divorce, each spouse’s need, etc. If one spouse was purely the homekeeper, they will then go into the world with no work skills, and need greater assistance as a result.
Child support
Many divorces unfortunately involve children, and when the spouses divorce, one parent will usually get primary custody, while the other will be expected to pay a certain amount of money, depending on needs. How things will go with respect to this will depend, again, on certain factors. For example, a divorce should reasonably see the child able to maintain the lifestyle they once held, and it is important to ensure that they do not have to be the ones to suffer from the process.
