It’s likely the worst time of your life. The marriage you thought would last forever is over. You might be feeling betrayed, enraged, bereft, depressed, grief stricken, terrified, or stunned. Any one of those emotions will make you want to move on to a happier life chapter as rapidly as possible. That’s particularly true during what is frequently the most acrimonious part of getting divorced: asset division.
California is one of just nine states that operates on the community property principle when it comes to asset division: each spouse is entitled to half the marital property unless there’s a signed prenup to the contrary. 50/50. Sounds simple. The two biggest challenges are identifying what qualifies as community property, then accurately assessing the value of that property. And dividing things up equally does not necessarily require that each partner gets 50% of each asset.
Technically not all assets are equivalent. You can’t equally exchange retirement for an interest in the family home, they have different tax implications. Not everything that changes hands has tax implications, but eventually these things become a taxable event. When you sell the house you have capital gains, when you take your retirement that’s a taxable event. All those things need to be considered, evaluated, appraised, and worked out. How assiduously your complex asset division lawyer pursues your best interest every step of the way can profoundly affect your future financial security.
Complex asset division lawyer, Amy Laughlin of Laughlin Legal says, “I hear it all the time: ‘I just want to get this done. I just want custody of my kids, he can have everything else. I don’t care about child support.’ And almost invariably they come back 2 years later saying, ‘I can’t support my family.’ This is not the time to throw up your hands and get simple. Custody of your children is an asset in a sense, but that doesn’t mean you walk away from everything else.”
When do you need a complex asset division lawyer?
When you’re a high net worth couple with a whole lot more to split than a family home and a couple of cars. Amy Laughlin should know. She spent years practicing securities litigation and representing the C-suite elite in Silicon Valley. She’s an authority regarding high finance, specifically investigating and analyzing sophisticated and complex financial assets – including business valuations, venture capital, founder stock, allocation of equity interests, tax and property characterization, etc. – and their impact on spousal and child support, move-away requests, Child Protective Services investigations and domestic violence. This experience trained her to take an exhaustive approach as a complex asset division attorney when dividing assets or determining custody and support in high net worth divorce cases, and as a result, Amy has delivered extraordinary outcomes in some of San Mateo’s most complex family law trials.
Your average divorce, on the other hand, runs into trouble over the biggest marital asset: the family home. “I’m a big believer in trying to keep the house particularly in California because you can’t rent something comparable to your family home for what your mortgage costs because there’s a huge shortage of rental properties. Plus, your kids are not going to want to come with you if you leave the house. Teens especially hate change, they like their privacy, like their room and their neighbors and their friends nearby.”
Are you looking for a highly skilled complex asset division attorney?
If you or someone you love is headed for divorce and you haven’t decided upon your divorce attorney, learn more about how an experienced complex asset division attorney can best represent you and your values. Call us now at 650-389-9344 to schedule your first consultation with us. If you’d prefer, you can email us to set up your appointment. If we miss your call, we will respond promptly and call you back as soon as possible.
Laughlin Legal Family Law Group
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