Complex and High Net Worth Divorce Cases

The division of assets is one of the most difficult aspects of almost every divorce.  Texas is a community property state, and the Texas Family Code tells divorce court judges to “order a division of the estate of the parties in a manner that the court deems just and right”.  See Texas Family Code §7.001.  That often means an equal (50/50) division…..but not always.  Texas law allows for a “disproportionate” (non-50/50) division of community property in some circumstances (for instance, if one of the spouses is “at fault” in the break-up of the marriage, or if a spouse has wrongfully transferred assets to a non-spouse).

 But the difficulties of a “typical” case are often compounded in a “high net worth” or “complex divorce” case.  There is no exact definition of these terms, but they typically means a case involving several of the following factors:

significant cash, stocks, bonds, or mutual funds; 

deferred compensation (such as restricted stock units);

significant separate property (meaning, property that a spouse owned prior to marriage, or obtained during the marriage by gift, inheritance, or as compensation for a personal injury); 

              a closely-held business, or businesses; or

              ownership of multiple pieces of real estate. 

When a case involves one or more of these types of assets, there will be issues not just with whether, or how to divide them, but with what they are worth to begin with. 

Using their knowledge of Texas community property law, our attorneys assist clients with complex divorces in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Wylie protect the assets they’ve built.  We do that by:

investigating and asserting all appropriate separate property claims (to shield assets from division in the divorce); 

for community property, we work to make sure the court assigns the asset an accurate, real-world, value when deciding whether and how to divide it; and

investigating and identifying assets potentially hidden, or transferred, by the other party.

If you’re contemplating what may be a complex divorce, be proactive – start gathering documents related to the assets listed above, and contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss the specifics of your situation and how we can help.