Virginia Beach High-Asset Divorce Lawyer

Divorce is often complicated and emotionally fraught, particularly if children are involved. Between splitting up property and debt and fighting out spousal support, child custody, and child support, the divorce process can be stressful. When a divorcing couple has significant assets, it can be even more difficult.

Divorces that involve a significant amount of marital property require the assistance of a family law attorney with extensive experience with the types of assets involved. If a couple has stock options, a business, multiple properties, art collections, or other investments, it can make for a much more complex divorce. Our Virginia Beach high-asset divorce lawyers will work with financial experts to help our clients get the best outcome for their cases.

At Poole, Brooke, Plumlee, we understand that divorce is never easy – and can be even more challenging when there are significant assets to divide. Our Virginia family law attorneys will take a proactive, strategic approach to protect what you have worked so hard to build. Reach out today to schedule a consultation with a member of our legal team.

Why You Need a High-Asset Divorce Attorney

Having skilled legal representation with specific experience handling high-net-worth divorces is crucial to protecting your rights and interests. Your attorney won’t simply accept the other side’s designation or valuation of the marital assets. Instead, they will independently evaluate the marital estate to ensure that your rights are safeguarded.

First, your attorney will use their knowledge of Virginia family law to accurately determine which assets should be considered marital versus separate property. This step is critical to ensuring that all appropriate assets are considered in the division of assets. Your lawyer will also perform asset tracing and discovery to find any hidden or concealed assets.

Second, they will work closely with forensic accountants, appraisers, and other financial professionals to value each of these assets. Certain assets – like intellectual property – can be difficult to value. They must have an accurate valuation to ensure equitable distribution.

Third, your lawyer will consider the tax implications of any proposed property division. Doing so is crucial to a fair division, as one spouse may be hit with a massive tax bill after the divorce. The tax issues should always be contemplated as part of any high-asset divorce case.

Fourth, your Virginia Beach divorce lawyer will use their strategic negotiation and litigation skills to achieve the best possible outcome. In many situations, a settlement is the most cost-effective way to resolve a case. However, there are cases where litigation is necessary to fully protect your rights and interests.

While many divorces involve the same basic issues – property distribution, spousal support, child custody, and child support – when a couple is wealthy, these issues are simply more complicated. A Virginia high-asset divorce lawyer will evaluate every financial aspect of the divorce and put together a comprehensive strategy to ensure the best result for their client.

The attorneys of Poole, Brooke, Plumlee have experience in family law as well as business law, tax law, estate planning and real estate law. Our family law attorneys consult with their colleagues in high-net-worth divorce cases to gain additional insight as they develop a strategy. As a full-service law firm, we provide an unmatched level of expertise and service. This allows us to put together a proactive strategy that takes into account the various legal issues that may arise in a high-asset divorce case.

Unique Considerations for High-Asset Divorces

A high-asset divorce often involves property that is more difficult to value and divide equitably. For example, if a business owner gets a divorce, the value of that enterprise will be more difficult to determine than a bank account or a piece of real estate. There may also be concerns about a former spouse owning part of the business or having to sell the company as a consequence of a divorce.

Similarly, many professionals – like attorneys, physicians, and accountants – worry about protecting their practices in a divorce. Their spouses may have helped them build the practice, but cannot legally own it. An experienced Virginia high-asset divorce attorney will evaluate a range of options to determine the best way to protect the practice during a division of assets.

A marital estate in a high asset divorce may include more unusual property such as:

Business interests, such as ownership of a company, partnership, or professional practice
Large real estate holdings, including primary residences, vacation homes, commercial real estate, rental properties, and/or undeveloped land
Investment portfolios that may consist of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other financial instruments
Retirement accounts and/or pension plans, such as 401(k) plans, IRAs, pensions, and/or deferred compensation
Luxury goods, including art collections, luxury vehicles, boats or yachts, and other high-value assets
Intellectual property rights such as royalties, patents, trademarks and copyrights
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum

Hidden assets are also more common in these types of divorces, such as an overseas bank account with a significant amount of money. Finding these assets may require the assistance of a professional such as a forensic accountant.

A Virginia Beach divorce attorney who understands the complications of these cases will work to untangle the various assets in the marital estate and determine their value. A lawyer will often work with financial experts and other professionals to not only find all of the assets but to value them appropriately. They will also use their knowledge of Virginia family law to properly designate each piece of property as marital or separate property.

Alimony is another consideration in a high-asset divorce. A court may order spousal support as part of a divorce after considering factors such as:

Each spouse’s obligations, needs, and financial resources;
The length of the marriage;
The marital standard of living; and
Each spouse’s earning capacity.

While spousal support is not awarded in every case, it may be awarded in a divorce where one party has significantly more financial resources and earning potential compared to the other spouse. Your Virginia Beach high-asset divorce attorney will consider alimony when negotiating or litigating a divorce.

Property Division in Virginia Divorces

Virginia is an “equitable distribution” state when it comes to divvying up property between spouses. A couple’s property isn’t simply split down the middle. Instead, a court will examine a number of factors to determine what would be fair and equitable. Alimony or spousal support is considered separately from property and debt division.

Importantly, only marital property – which is property that was acquired or earned during the marriage – is divided as part of a divorce. For example, if a couple purchases a family home together after they get married, it would typically be considered marital property.

Separate property is not divided as part of a divorce case, except where the parties agree to do so.. Separate property generally is anything that belongs to only one spouse before marriage or property acquired by one spouse by gift or inheritance during the marriage from a third party. For example, if a wife’s uncle dies and leaves her a vacation property in his will, then it would be considered separate and not marital property.

Of course, there may be situations where an asset started as separate property – such as a vacation home – but became part marital property. This could be because marital funds were used to increase the value of the home during the marriage, such as by making renovations. Additionally, if the non-owning spouse contributes significant personal effort to separate property which results in a substantial increase in its value, the non-owning spouse may acquire a marital interest in the separate property.

To divide property, the parties must designate assets as either marital or separate property or a mixture of both. If there is a dispute, then the court will characterize the assets for them. The court will then evaluate the property’s value based on the information provided by the parties.

Once the judge has valued all marital assets, they will divide the property after evaluating multiple factors, including:

The length of the marriage;
The spouses’ respective ages and their physical and mental condition;
Each spouse’s debts and liabilities;
Tax consequences of the property;
The liquid or nonliquid character of the marital property (i.e., cash is considered liquid, while a house that has to be sold is a nonliquid asset); and
Each spouse’s contributions to the well-being of the family and to the acquisition, care, and maintenance of the marital property. These contributions can be monetary or non-monetary, such as staying home to take care of the kids and the home so that the other spouse can build a business or work.

In a typical divorce, the couple is splitting up fairly basic assets such as the family home, bank accounts, and retirement accounts. There may also be debt to allocate between the parties. High-asset divorce cases often involve far more complicated issues and require a higher level of expertise.

How Our Law Firm Can Help

If you are contemplating getting a divorce, you may be worried about losing everything that you have worked for throughout your life. Alternatively, you may be stressed about the possibility of losing the lifestyle that you and your children have become accustomed to if your soon-to-be ex takes an aggressive approach to property division and spousal support. Our family law attorneys have specific experience handling high-net-worth divorces on behalf of professionals, business owners, and executives. We will shepherd you through the process and help you get a favorable result.

Poole, Brooke, Plumlee represent individuals and families in all types of family law matters, including high net worth divorces. We use our skill and experience in business, family, and tax law to develop an optimal strategy for our clients, and then fight to protect their interests in a divorce. To learn more or to schedule a consultation with a Virginia Beach high-asset divorce attorney, give our law offices a call at 757-499-1841 or fill out our online contact form.