When you’re working on dividing your marital property, the best thing you can do is think of the situation like a business deal. California requires a 50-50 split of marital assets, but that doesn’t mean that you and your spouse can’t negotiate and come up with different terms.
When you have complex property concerns, you both may want to hire your own attorneys and make sure you’re in touch with them as you work on negotiating a settlement. Your property and debts have to be divided and settled before your divorce can be finalized, so doing this as soon as possible helps you move your divorce along quickly.
What are some common complex property division concerns?
Some more complex assets that may need to be divided include:
- Businesses
- Real estate holdings
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Retirement accounts
- Investments
With more complex assets or debts, you may need to work with accountants, tax professionals, attorneys and others to determine their value and how you want to divide them.
Some people may be concerned about the risk of one spouse hiding assets or having them undervalued. For this reason, working with a forensic accountant and an appraiser is important. An appraiser will attempt to set a value for any property you have. A forensic accountant will dig deep into your accounts to find any assets you may have missed.
Our website has more about complex property division and what you can do to make your negotiations go smoothly. With the right help from professionals in various areas of business, you can resolve this part of your divorce and move forward.