Seeking to divorce your spouse rarely is an easy decision. You may have tried to save your marriage for your children’s sake or because you owned a business together. Or you knew your divorce would be expensive and complicated because of your multiple assets. If you and your spouse had a high income and several investments, unfortunately, you can make divorce mistakes that are very costly.
If you want to avoid mistakes that often come with a high-asset divorce, you should follow the six following tips:
- Seek an accounting of all your assets. You may need to hire a forensic accountant to track all your assets, especially if you have significant investments, overseas bank accounts or a business you and your spouse own. Or you may need a professional to perform a valuation of your business or estimate the value of your home and other expensive property.
- Hire an attorney who has experience handling high-asset divorces. Kentucky uses equitable distribution when dividing assets in divorce. The more assets you have, the more complicated your divorce and asset negotiation becomes. You want someone who understands the challenges involved in settling a high-asset divorce.
- Don’t accept a quick settlement just to get your divorce over with. If you’ve stayed home to raise children and allowed your spouse to pursue a demanding career, you may be entitled to more assets than you realize. You may need to seek spousal support too. You want to ensure you receive the best settlement you can for your circumstances.
- Don’t act out of spite when dividing assets or agreeing to a child custody plan with your spouse. You need to separate your emotions from the divorce process as much as possible. Otherwise, you can end up in a long, drawn-out, expensive divorce.
- Understand the tax impact your divorce will have on you if you plan to keep the marital home, receive other significant assets or seek spousal support.
- Decide whether you want to seek getting the documents of your divorce sealed, so no one can find out the financial details of your divorce settlement.
Going through a high-asset divorce likely will take longer than other divorces do. You might feel overwhelmed by all the decisions and financial implications involved. That’s why having a good attorney is so important – so you know you have an advocate working to get the best outcome in your divorce.
