Shocking Facts About the Division of Property
TABLE OF CONTENTS High Net worth Divorce: Shocking Facts to Know About the Division of Property
Taxes Are Very Important Divorce And The Business A Fair Child Support Order May Require More Than What You Think You Can Prevent Your Spouse From Depleting Your Assets Once You File For Divorce Property And Investment Consideration
How Much Does It Cost To Hire And Retain A Divorce Attorney? Hourly Rates So, what is the average total cost of hiring a divorce attorney? Factors Affecting Divorce Lawyer’s Fees Basic Stages of a Divorce Mediation Process
Introduction Stage Private And Joint Sessions Framing Stage Negotiation Stage Conclusion Stage
High Net worth Divorce: Shocking Facts to Know About the Division of Property It is not uncommon for the rich and famous to be in the news for several reasons including divorce. Divorce is tough and when you are dividing up your property or estate, it can even become more complex. As a matter of fact, some high profile cases can even drag for months or even years. Here are some shocking facts to know about the division of property in a high net worth divorce.
Taxes Are Very Important Although transfers between spouses under the judgment of divorce are not subject to tax, achieving fair outcome requires consideration of taxes that each party will ultimately pay in terms of the assets he or she receives. Due to this, it is important to apply discounts to certain pre-tax assets in recognition that a spouse that receives pre-tax property does not receive the same value as the one who receives the same dollar balance in the post-tax assets.
Divorce And The Business In many high net worth cases, either one or both parties may have invested in the business either as a CEO or as partial owner. When a company is not traded publicly and the worth of ownership interest is not clear, it is important to confer with a valuation analyst to assist in determining the value of the ownership interest that is in question including any tangible assets.
A Fair Child Support Order May Require More Than What You Think When it comes to high net worth divorce cases, there are guideline calculations that are meant to determine child support. However, if one party has a business owner with variable income, there is often a preliminary question as to the appropriate gross income that should be used to calculate the monthly child support payment. In cases where variable or bonus incline is involved, it may be fairer if the parties structure the support to include a base monthly support amount and an additional income that is received along the way.
You Can Prevent Your Spouse From Depleting Your Assets Once You File For Divorce Once you file for a divorce, the court allows you to prevent your spouse from using your assets. Once a divorce is filed, an automatic order always goes to that effect. The order prohibits both parties from taking any action on the property without the other spouse’s consent. This includes property that was held individually or jointly.
Property And Investment Consideration In divorce cases, wealthier couples are more likely to own more real estate or have other investments that will have to be considered during the equitable distribution of their properties. These assets may include investment portfolios, stock, and vacation homes. Although the spouses may agree that the asset is marital, they may still disagree on who should receive the property or how the property should be devised. Regardless of your situation, speaking with an experienced attorney sooner rather than later can make all the difference. They will not only provide you with peace of mind but also a wealth of resources to protect your business, yourself and your family.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire And Retain A Divorce Attorney? The ideal situation for most people would be that they are flanked by an attorney when going through a divorce. But the question that most people ask is how much it costs to hire a divorce lawyer. You may have called a few attorneys and even checked out a couple of websites but you still wonder if you are being charged a little too much. Here is a guide on how much hiring a divorce attorney costs.
Hourly Rates Most attorneys bill by the hour. And according to nolo.com, the national average hourly fee charged by divorce lawyers is $250. This is of course just the average, and it is not uncommon to find those charging from as little as $50 per hour to even more than $400. However, $250 is the most likely fee to be charged. For this amount, you can get full representation in which the attorney handles every aspect of the case, partial representation where the lawyer only manages to a few aspects like child custody or alimony, or consultation only. So it is important to know beforehand what you will be getting for the hourly fee you are charged.
So, what is the average total cost of hiring a divorce attorney? The hourly rate may not make a lot of sense because you do not even know how long your case may take. Another thing to note is that the total fee will include court costs, the lawyer’s charges, and other expenses such as hiring a tax advisor, real estate appraiser, or child custody evaluator, etc. The cost can easily jump to $15,000 or more, which includes attorney’s fees.
Factors Affecting Divorce Lawyer’s Fees When you settle the matter out of court, you are likely to pay less than when a matter proceeds to trial. The more issues that go to trial, the more costly the fees will be. Prepare to pay up to $20,000 if issues such as alimony, child custody or estates reach trial. For cases that reach a settlement, you can pay up to $15,000 if you manage to settle all your issues out of court. Other factors include:
Whether the divorce is contested or uncontested Child custody Alimony The retainer fee versus the hourly rate charged by lawyers The lawyer or law firm you choose to represent you Where you are filing the case and the local filing charges Mediation Child custody evaluation
It is never simple or easy to end a marriage, but one of the most significant considerations apart from the societal and emotional factors is the cost. There are cases where legal fees will be the greatest expense in a divorce. As happens with most things, planning ahead can help you manage the situation. But one thing you need to know is that these fees are often negotiable. Talk to your lawyer and see if they can reduce it for you. Also, if you do not have an acrimonious divorce, always try to thrash details with your partner to avoid going to trial. This will save you a bunch of bills.
Basic Stages of a Divorce Mediation Process Most divorces end up in battles especially when issues such as property division and child custody come into play. Nevertheless, a divorce process does not have to be confrontational because it can be handled peacefully through mediation. Divorce mediation is largely an out-of-court resolution mechanism that helps the divorcing couples to solve their issues sensibly. It entails a couple of steps. Here are the basic steps of the divorce mediation process.
Introduction Stage To initiate the divorce mediation process, the divorcing spouses have to find a non-partisan mediator to work with them through the process. The mediator will first work with the couple to set guidelines for the mediation process. Here, the divorcing couples must furnish the mediator with all the relevant information concerning their situation. The mediator will then explain to the couple how the process will be conducted. Based on the issues surrounding a couple’s divorce case, the mediator will suggest which approach to take in a bid to increase the chances of the couple agreeing on important issues concerning their divorce.
Private And Joint Sessions After the introduction stage, several private and joint sessions are scheduled to take place, whereby the mediator will assist the divorcing couples to evaluate issues touching on their divorce case. During these sessions, the mediator must promote a peaceful and conducive environment where all parties can freely express their concerns, ideas, and needs. Private sessions are meant to offer each party in the divorce case a chance to discuss sensitive emotional elements, issues of domestic abuse and other sensitive issues of the couple’s divorce case. The mediator must keep the information disclosed by the couple during these sessions completely confidential.
Framing Stage In this stage, the mediator helps each party outline their preferred outcomes in the mediation process. The outcomes consist of each party’s priorities, values, goals, and concerns. This stage is crucial for identifying the interests of the parties, which is also essential for enabling the mediator to frame the main goal of the mediation process. When it gets to divorce, all issues ought to be examined from an angle of each party’s interests. Some of the issues pertinent to divorce include child support, alimony, debt division, and child custody.
Negotiation Stage After the mediator has helped the divorcing couples to explore and frame their issues and interests, the negotiator then embarks on the most important stage of divorce mediation: the negotiation stage. Here, the mediator will delve into the specifics of the parties’ interests and concerns. Most importantly, the mediator will help the parties negotiate a fair settlement. This normally starts with exploring all the possible options that will have the best outcome for all parties.
Conclusion Stage After all the issues have been resolved and agreements arrived at, the mediator then presents each party with a copy of the agreement draft. Once the couple has agreed to the contents of the agreement draft, they can preserve it and give it to their divorce attorney as proof of the final divorce judgment. Divorce mediation has proved to be the most peaceful way of handling divorce cases. If you are facing an impending divorce case that risks escalating things between you and your partner, it is time to get a good mediator who can help mediate your divorce process peacefully and amicably.
More info:
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