When you have a lot of assets, you have a lot to be concerned about in divorce. California has a community property law, meaning each marriage member owns half the marital estate. However, while that may seem simple on the surface, it is anything but in practice regarding high-wealth individuals.
Here are some of the questions we get most frequently on these issues:
I received a significant inheritance during the marriage; what will happen to it?
Even though you and your spouse jointly own the marital estate, that has no impact on separate property. Separate property is anything you possess by yourself, including all the property you owned before the marriage, anything you buy with your “pre-marital” assets, and anything you receive as a gift or inheritance.
My spouse tells me I have no right to our investment portfolios because they predate the marriage. Is that true?
While the separate property does include assets created before the marriage, there is a lot to consider when it comes to commingling assets. If your spouse contributed to this retirement account from their income, then a portion of that investment portfolio is separate property. Comingling assets is highly common, and it can mean a significant percentage of investment gains are a part of the marital estate.
What will happen to my business?
As far as your business is concerned, asset division will be extremely complex. Depending on when you started your business and the business’s ownership structure, it could be a significant part of the asset division process. Businesses are the most complex asset to divide, which may take a great deal of work.
How public will my divorce be?
Depending on the nature of your divorce and your profile, your divorce could be somewhat publicized. However, if your priority is a quiet divorce, without spectacle, which is possible to achieve with the right representation.