Everything You Need To Know About High Asset Divorce In Michigan
When you hold multiple assets and a substantial amount of money in your account, divorces can take a sharp turn and become a high asset divorce. In this blog we will be going over everything you need to know about High Asset Divorces in Michigan. When there are a lot of assets involved there may be pension plans, multiple homes, or property, and these things might make it difficult to determine the true value.
There may be assets that even have a fluctuating evaluation which can make it difficult when it comes to the division of these assets. When we divide assets, oftentimes there are assets whose value is a matter of dispute which can present challenges. Read more to learn everything you need to know about high asset divorces.
What is a high asset divorce?
A high asset divorce in The State of Michigan is when there is $1 million or more in liquid assets and there is a large amount of property and other assets. There is a huge difference between the complexity of a divorce case involving assets and a case with no assets. When there are assets involved the best possible choice is to try to work with the other party to come to some kind of agreement so that the process can go much smoother. In reality, this is very difficult to do especially with high assets, this is why you need an experienced lawyer.
Don’t hide your assets
The instinct, however wrong, of those with high assets is to generally run and start hiding or moving money, property, stocks or other assets. This is the wrong thing to do and will backfire on you. Both spouses are required to be completely transparent with their assets. If you suspect that your spouse is not going to live up to that obligation, then it is imperative that you take steps to prepare. If you are able to demonstrate in court that your spouse hid any of their assets, then the court is likely to award the entire asset to you as punishment for your spouse’s misconduct. Hiding assets can be done in a variety of ways. Sometimes financial documents are literally hidden away. A spouse might convert cash into property like art or jewelry. There have also been cases where a divorcing spouse has used marital funds to pay off fake debts. Funneling cash into individually owned businesses is another common tactic. In order to detect asset concealment, you should obtain copies of all of your spouse’s income tax returns and all of their financial records. Although this may result in elevated legal fees if you are utilizing the services of an attorney, it will almost certainly be worthwhile in a high-income divorce.
Assets and Property
It would be highly advisable for both you and your spouse to compile a detailed inventory of all of your property and assets. If both of you sign this document and submit it to the family court, then the court is much less likely to demand a greater investigation or ask for more evidence from either of you. This is a great way to speed up the process. As an added bonus, you won’t have to pay your attorneys as much to help gather or demand evidence of assets.
Marital debt is distributed along with property, albeit using different standards and procedures. The court will generally strive for fairness in the distribution. This typically means that the marital debt is divided roughly equally. However, the judge might opt for a more lopsided distribution if they felt it would be fairer to do so. It is highly unlikely that one person will receive 100% of the assets and one person will leave with nothing. Despite the fact that Michigan is a no-fault divorce state, the truth is that fault can be relevant to some property, alimony and other issues. The court may not be equal about it, it may be something along the lines of a 60-40 split, but you don’t see 90-10 split in these scenarios from Michigan courts. In the majority of cases the distribution will be even.
The first and most important thing you can do going into a divorce in order to have a more favorable property distribution is to have either a premarital agreement that memorializes the desired arrangement of you and your spouse or a separate document signed by the both of you which declares the particular designation of marital and separate property which is most likely to result in the desired distribution.
Conclusion
If you want to preserve your assets, there are things that can be done in order to preserve those assets from your soon-to-be ex. Don’t hide any of your assets or try to put all your money into stocks or other savings accounts, this will only hurt you in the long run and the court will find out. Be truthful and tell your attorney about all the assets you own and give all the information needed by the attorney. In a high asset divorce, you will need a skilled attorney that will get you the best results.
If you need more information on High Asset Divorce or Marital Property or if you have any questions regarding divorce in The State of Michigan contact Goldman and Associates Law Firm. At Goldman and Associates, our attorneys are experts in family law and they will thoroughly examine all aspects of your divorce. With the best lawyers in Michigan, Goldman and Associates takes each and every case very seriously and gives you the outcome you desire.
For more information on high asset divorce in the State of Michigan watch the video below and check out the Goldman and Associates YouTube channel for more videos on everything relating to law in Michigan. Make sure to give our attorneys a call if you have any questions about domestic violence in Michigan.
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