Many times in life, people think that if they have more money, they can live an easier, happier life. They can afford a luxury home, a fancy car and some deluxe vacations. That all sounds nice, but at times, having more money leads to having more problems. That’s especially true for wealthy couples facing divorce.
A high-asset divorce can come with significant difficulties. Here are five common challenges couples face in a high-asset divorce:
1. A high-asset divorce likely will take more time to settle. Dividing property and assets in a high-asset divorce is complicated. If you own multiple properties, you will have to have a real estate professional give you a valuation of them. If you have a valuable art collection or antiques, you will have to get those appraised. Plus, it also takes time to document multiple investment assets. Then you will have to take time to decide how you will split your assets with your spouse.
2. You might have to find hidden assets. Unfortunately, if one spouse makes significantly more money than the other or isn’t happy about splitting certain assets, that spouse may try to hide those assets, including giving an asset to someone else or denying it exists.
3. If one spouse earns significantly more than the other, the person earning less can face a greater financial impact in divorce. If you have been a stay-at-home parent or only working minimally, you may be eligible for spousal support. But you also may have to adjust to living on less.
4. If your children have attended private school, had private sports lessons or expensive extracurricular activities, you may have to negotiate a higher level of child support.
5. If you don’t seek divorce mediation, your divorce records ultimately will be public record. You may not want the financial information involved in your divorce to be known to others, yet they will be in a traditional divorce.
Obviously, going through a divorce can be difficult no matter what your financial situation is. However, with more assets, you likely will face additional challenges and have a more difficult time reaching a divorce settlement.
When choosing a divorce attorney, you should ask if the attorney you are considering has experiencing handling high-asset divorces, including accounting for multiple types of assets. You want to know you are working with someone who can help you get the best outcome possible when significant assets are on the line.