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Issues Unique to High Asset Divorce
All Texas divorces must be conducted in compliance with state law. However, this doesn’t mean that all divorces are the same. High asset divorces, in particular, come with unique issues. For this reason, it is especially important for those with significant, unique, or diverse assets who have decided to dissolve their marriages, to retain an experienced high asset divorce attorney who is well-versed in these issues and can ensure that their interests and rights are protected.
Financial Complication
One of the most difficult parts of the divorce process is deciding how assets will be divided. This is especially true for those with significant assets who don’t have a prenuptial agreement, as the process of identifying, appraising, and attempting to divide property is much more complex. In these cases, it is not uncommon for couples to have rare or unique property, such as real estate, antiques, artwork, and jewelry, that is both difficult to appraise and divide. It is also much easier in these situations for one spouse to try to hide specific assets, which is both unlawful and could result in an unfair property settlement agreement.
How Divorce Could Affect Your Child’s 529 College Savings Account
Many parents make an effort to diligently put away money in a 529 college savings account each month for their children’s higher education. However, these accounts, like any other asset, are divisible upon divorce, which means that they could be put in jeopardy, so if you have a college savings account for your child and have questions about its fate in the event of divorce, you should strongly consider contacting an experienced high asset divorce attorney who can help ensure that your child’s future is protected.
What Are 529 Savings Plans?
Also known as qualified tuition plans, 529 savings plans are tax-advantaged plans that are sponsored by the state and that help families save for future education costs. There are two main types of 529 plans: prepaid tuition plans and education savings plans. The former allows account holders to purchase credits or units at specific colleges and universities to cover future tuition and fees for a beneficiary at current prices. Education savings plans, on the other hand, allow account holders to save for a beneficiary’s tuition and mandatory fees, but also room and board. Funds from these types of accounts can be used at any college or university.
Enforcing a Property Settlement
Whether an agreement is reached in an out-of-court setting through negotiation, or as the result of litigation and a court order, the terms of any finalized divorce decree must be followed. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for one of the parties to refuse to comply with certain terms, especially in regards to property division. In these situations, courts can step in and enforce a property settlement following divorce, so if your former spouse is refusing to comply with a court order by failing to turn over certain assets, it is critical to retain an experienced high asset divorce attorney who can help you seek a request for relief from the court.
Enforcing a Temporary Property Division Order
During many divorces, the parties are required to address temporary property-related issues while the divorce is pending, such as: who will retain the family home, who will be responsible for paying certain bills and expenses, and who will cover debts, such as loans, credit cards, and lease payments. To address these matters, a court may issue a temporary order that has some or all of the following effects:
Handling Undivided Property After Divorce
In Texas, assets acquired during a marriage are subject to equitable division upon divorce. Whether a couple is able to reach a divorce settlement on their own in an out-of-court setting, or a court orders property division after the parties’ litigate the issue, a divorce will only be officially granted when an arrangement has been reached. In most divorce cases, all property-related issues are resolved by the time the court issues a divorce decree. However, it is also not uncommon for one party to discover, after a divorce has already been finalized, that his or her former spouse was hiding assets in an effort to retain sole possession. Concealing assets during divorce is unlawful, so parties who determine that they were unfairly denied an equitable portion of a specific asset can ask the court to step in and distribute the previously undivided property. This can be a difficult endeavor, so if you recently discovered that your former spouse was hiding assets during your divorce proceedings, it is critical to contact an experienced high asset divorce attorney who can help you collect your rightful share of your marital property.
Commingling Separate Property During Marriage
In Texas, most assets acquired by a person before he or she entered into a marriage will remain in that individual’s sole possession in the event of divorce. In fact, even some assets obtained during a marriage can qualify as separate property, including gifts, inheritances, and personal injury awards. There are, however, certain situations where assets that were clearly acquired prior to marriage are actually considered by the courts to be marital property, and so, are also divisible upon divorce.
In most cases, this occurs when there is evidence of commingling, which is a term used to describe the mixing of separate assets with marital property. When this occurs, the original owner will most likely have to share the asset with his or her soon to be ex-spouse. This can be a significant financial burden, so if you are concerned about the fate of some of your own property, you should strongly consider contacting a high asset divorce lawyer who can advise you.
Trusts and High Asset Divorce
When considering divorce and the division of assets that must inevitably follow, it is important for divorcing couples to remember to account for all trusts that they have established, including those created prior to their marriage. Depending on when it was created and the types of funds and assets that it contains, a trust might completely protect one spouse’s property from division during divorce. On the other hand, the contents of a trust might still end up being divided equitably between the spouses. If you or your spouse have a trust in place and have questions about its fate in the event of divorce, you should consider consulting with a high asset divorce lawyer who can advise you.
Irrevocable Trusts
Although Texas courts have not addressed all types of trusts in relation to divorce, a number of judges have indicated that separate irrevocable trusts, when created prior to a marriage, do shield separate property from marital property. As a result, the contents of those trusts are not subject to division upon divorce. In fact, even the income from these types of trusts, even if it was earned during the marriage, will remain separate property and so also won’t be subject to division. However, this is only true if the beneficiary of the trust, whether the spouse him or herself or a third party, will not be considered to have a present possessory right to any of the assets contained in the trust. In the event that the trustor is granted a present possessory right to a portion of the trust, then the income would become marital property and would have to be divided equitably between the parties.
Protecting Your Assets During Divorce
Although ensuring that your assets are secure is one of the most important aspects of any divorce, it is especially true for those with substantial or unique property. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps that Texas residents can take to protect their assets, so if you are thinking about filing for divorce, it is critical to speak with an experienced high asset divorce lawyer who can explain your legal options.
Listing Your Assets
One of the most crucial steps that divorcing couples should take is determining which assets belong to whom. This is because Texas is an equitable distribution state, which means that only marital assets must be divided equitably upon divorce. Separate property, or assets that belong to one spouse alone, however, can remain in the sole possession of the original owner. For this reason, providing proof of when and how an asset was purchased is critical to the property division process. In fact, a spouse who can prove that he or she received a particular asset as part of a gift or an inheritance can retain that asset, even if it was obtained during the marriage.
Filing for Divorce Before the End of 2018
Couples who live in Texas and have unique or diverse assets and are considering divorce may want to consider filing by the end of 2018, as new federal tax laws that affect alimony payments are set to go into effect next year. To learn more about filing for divorce and the effect that the new tax law could have on your own case, please contact one of our dedicated Cedar Park high asset divorce attorneys for assistance.
Current Law
Under current federal law, those who pay alimony to ex-spouses can deduct those payments when calculating their taxable income. Similarly, alimony recipients must include spousal maintenance payments when calculating their income. This has proven to be extremely helpful to taxpayers who are being taxed at a high rate based on their income. In fact, the IRS estimates that as many as 600,000 people take advantage of this deduction. However, next year, this option will no longer be available.
Five Common High Asset Divorce Mistakes
Divorce can be a financially and emotionally stressful time. This is true regardless of how much a couple’s assets are worth, especially when children are involved. However, families with unique or valuable assets do face specific issues when it comes to divorce, such as property division disputes, valuation problems, and attempts to hide assets. With this in mind, it is important for couples with business interests, complex assets, or significant financial interests to try and avoid certain pitfalls. Consulting with an experienced high asset divorce attorney can be crucial to the success of this endeavor, so if you are considering divorce and have diverse or substantial assets, you should consider contacting an experienced high asset divorce attorney for advice.
Making Emotional Decisions
One of the worst things that a divorcing couple can do is make decisions based purely on emotion. For instance, one spouse may attempt to relieve themselves of guilt for past wrongdoings by agreeing to pay more spousal support than is necessary or by giving the other party a greater share of marital property. Later, when tempers have cooled, the parties could realize that the decisions they made were not in their best interests. Unfortunately, it is often too late by this point and they will most likely be stuck with their court-ordered property settlement.
Dividing Bitcoin During Divorce
Although Bitcoin is a relatively new type of currency, it is already playing an important role in the finances of many couples. Bitcoin, which is often referred to as cryptocurrency because it has no physical form, is not controlled by any government agency but is maintained in virtual accounts. Despite these major differences between virtual and standard currency, Bitcoin can be distributed during the property division process as if it were any other asset. For help ensuring that your own virtual assets are fairly and properly divided upon divorce, please contact our high asset divorce legal team today.
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is essentially a line of computer code that holds monetary value and is otherwise known as digital currency. While bitcoin can be stored offline on the owner’s computer hardware and so can be kept relatively safe, this digitization also means that it is easier for a spouse to transfer or hide them without the other spouse’s knowledge. The best way to ensure that your spouse is not hiding assets in this way is to take note of any conversions of real marital assets, like the contents of a bank account, into digital Bitcoin, which should leave a paper trail. Although it can be difficult to establish ownership of these types of assets, this is one of the most effective methods of ensuring that marital property that has been converted into digital currency will be divided appropriately.
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