When parties are in a high net worth marriage and going through a high net worth divorce, there are some unique elements. For example, it is more often the case in a high net worth divorce that one or the other party has the financial ability to stay in the former marital residence.
By contrast, in a typical divorce, it is often harder for the parties when they are making a mortgage payment basing that on one income versus two. That is just one of the multiple factors of a Fairfax high net worth divorce to consider that an experienced divorce attorney will be well equipped to help you navigate.
What to Do in Case of Multiple Homes
Assuming that the parties are not able to agree and that they have to go to court to resolve that issue, it is possible, particularly in a high net worth divorce, for each spouse to want to stay in the respective homes they have been living in.
If that happens and if the homes are in fact both marital assets then what will happen is the court will look at the value and equity in one spouse’s home and the value and equity of the other’s. If there is a discrepancy between the marital shares of equity in the respective properties, then the court will look to equalize that somewhere else in the assets that are the subject to division in the divorce.
Ownership of Inherited Property
The law in Virginia is that inherited property that is inherited by one spouse and not both is presumed to be separate property and that presumption means that, in most cases, the inheritance money will not be something that is subject to division and therefore it cannot be claimed by the other spouse. However, the analysis of whether property that is inherited has remained separate is a little bit more complicated than that.
When it comes to factors of a Fairfax high net worth divorce, the court is going to look at whether the beneficiary spouse has kept that inheritance separate from marital moneys or whether it has been co-mingled with marital moneys. If it has been co-mingled, that can create a hybrid classification of property or alternatively it is hopelessly co-mingled to the extent that the inherited properties cannot be identified then the property becomes marital entirely. There are number of factors that need to be looked at in order to determine whether that inherited property is even subject to division by courts.
In Case of International Holdings and Foreign Assets
If a couple who owned assets internationally is involved in a divorce, the judge in Fairfax can value and divide those assets just as it would be able to do with domestic assets. However, it is sometimes problematic depending on where the international assets are located in terms of giving effect to the order of the court.
For example, if the parties should own real estate in Russia and the court here should order that sold and the proceeds be divided in a certain way, it is not necessarily going to be the case that if one of the spouses takes the order to Russia to enforce it that Russia is going to honor that agreement.
How an Attorney Can Help Divide Assets
When a person is dealing with a divorce that has assets in other countries, one of the important parts of the process in analyzing how go about resolving those issues is taking into consideration whether an order generated by an American court will be honored by a foreign court. As for the division of local assets, that is one of the more straightforward factors of a Fairfax high net worth divorce. Either way, having a skilled and experienced lawyer represent you throughout will be extremely helpful.
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