Are you going through a divorce in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan? If your marriage involves substantial assets, you need experienced legal guidance to help you protect your rights and interests. Contact Eisenberg & Spilman, PLLC, today for an initial case evaluation with a high-asset divorce attorney serving Bloomfield Hills, and let’s discuss both your specific case and what we can do on your behalf.
Getting divorced in Bloomfield Hills is complex under just about any circumstances, but if you and your spouse own complex or high-value assets, you need to have knowledgeable, detail-focused legal representation to protect and advocate for your financial interests. As one of metro Detroit’s foremost law firms, Eisenberg & Spilman, PLLC, can provide the support and counsel you need to navigate the challenges of a high-asset divorce. Choose us to guide you through your divorce because:
A “high asset divorce” refers to a divorce where a couple owns significant assets or earns high incomes. A “high asset” couple may own complex assets such as commercial/income real estate, business interests, or extensive investment portfolios. High-asset divorces may have needs that are not common to traditional divorces, such as expert appraisers, forensic accountants, financial advisors, and legal counsel experienced in representing high-net-worth clients.
High-asset divorces can arise in “gray divorces,” or divorces of couples in long-term marriages, as couples married for decades have had more time to accumulate wealth and complex assets. However, high-asset divorces may also involve couples where one or both spouses own professional medical, dental, or legal practices, have experienced substantial business success, invested in high-growth assets like cryptocurrencies, or inherited significant family wealth.
Spouses in high-asset divorces frequently encounter complexities unique to high-net-worth couples. Some of the top challenges of high-asset divorces include:
When a high-net-worth couple separates in anticipation of a divorce, one of the first challenges they may encounter includes managing personal finances during separation. Couples may have tightly intertwined finances where they do not have separate financial accounts, potentially requiring each spouse to continue using joint accounts for ordinary expenses. Alternatively, when one spouse in a high-net-worth couple earns significantly more or has control over all or substantially all of the couple’s assets, the couple may need to resolve questions about the lower-earning spouse’s access to financial support during the separation, especially if children are involved.
High-net-worth couples may own various high-value assets, such as real estate, income properties, investments, businesses, jewelry, artwork, and collectibles. Dividing the marital estate during divorce may require couples to obtain expert valuations of their high-value assets to ensure an equitable division of matrimonial assets. However, spouses may obtain competing expert valuations that can lead to significant legal disputes requiring the court’s intervention.
A high-asset divorce may require a couple to divide business ownership interests. However, dividing a spouse’s business interests that qualify as marital assets may lead to various legal challenges for couples. Valuing business interests may require expert assistance and can lead to significant disputes due to the multiple methods of appraising a business. Furthermore, businesses’ governance documents may preclude a spouse from dividing or transferring their ownership interests to their spouse. Dividing business interests can also become highly complex when the couple co-owns the business, as spouses must decide whether to sell the business, cash out one spouse, or determine whether they can continue working together on the business.
High-asset divorces sometimes involve claims that a spouse has concealed marital assets from the other spouse and the court. Spouses may hide matrimonial assets to avoid dividing them with their spouse in divorce. Methods of concealing assets from a divorce case include funneling money out of joint accounts to separate accounts, fraudulently transferring assets to shell companies, or taking out fake “loans” to reduce the value of a spouse’s business interests. Uncovering concealed assets may require assistance from expert forensic accountants, who can review financial records to locate and trace money or assets back to the marital estate.
A high-asset divorce may involve intense litigation over spousal support obligations (alimony) when a couple has a significant economic imbalance, with one spouse earning considerably more and owning more separate assets than the other spouse. Because courts consider factors such as spouses’ respective financial needs and earning capacity, the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, and the division of the marital estate, high-asset divorces may lead spouses to dispute the necessity or proper amount of spousal support obligations. Unfortunately, courts do not have specific guidelines for calculating spousal support obligations; instead, they consider the totality of the circumstances to determine whether to award spousal support and the obligation amount.
Property division in a high-asset divorce may trigger various tax implications for couples, leaving them with unexpected tax liabilities or losing part of the marital estate to taxes. For example, dividing investments or business interests may trigger capital gains taxes, and dividing retirement assets or deferred compensation can trigger tax penalties. High-net-worth spouses need experienced legal advice to structure a property division in divorce that minimizes tax consequences for the couple.
An attorney highly experienced in high-asset divorces can help you protect your interests by:
If you and your spouse own substantial assets and have decided to divorce, you need an attorney who understands the stakes and knows how to protect your rights effectively. Contact Eisenberg & Spilman, PLLC, for a confidential consultation with an experienced divorce lawyer to discuss your rights and get the dedicated advocacy you deserve at this critical juncture.