Complex Divorce

Divorce is a complicated process for every couple that decides to divide a house. As Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” Divorce proceedings become imminently more challenging when discussions about child custody, equitable financial distribution and division of shared assets comes into play. A couple may emotionally be ready to separate from one another, but dividing assets, business, real estate/property, and deciding custody arrangements can create complexities requiring a team of professionals to unearth.

Amid emotional upheaval, many couples fail to recognize that marriage itself is a legally-binding transaction, and that terminating the marital contract also constitutes a legal separation of all shared property. The financial repercussions of divorce are often viewed with broad brush strokes, yet should a couple have varied assets, divorce proceedings can quickly become obscure.

Marnell Law Group can be the perfect partner in such complex divorce cases (also termed ‘high asset’) where detailed discovery of assets, forensic accounting or supplemental issues, such as child custody, need to be determined. Our attorneys are not exclusively expert counselors of law, we are knowledgeable about other areas including finance, while maintaining close ties with professional consultants who can easily be solicited should the need exist.

To determine if your case would be deemed ‘complex,’ ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you own a home, automobiles or vacation home?
• Do you or your spouse own (or partner) a business?
• Have either you or your spouse received an inheritance?
• Do either you or your spouse maintain any student loan, business, or other form of debt?
  
• Do you have children?
• Do you or your spouse maintain any offshore accounts?
• Have either you or your spouse committed adultery?
• Do either you or your spouse suffer from mental health issues?
• Are either you or your spouse contending with drug, alcohol or other dependency issues?

Interestingly, complex divorces are not exclusively focused on assets/debts of the marriage, but occasionally, bad behavior of one or both members of a marital couple. For example, should the husband or wife have addiction issues resulting in a dissipation or waste of marital assets (gambling, alcoholism, drug use, shopping addiction), such would constitute cause for more detailed analysis of the loss caused by said addiction. In short, the more complex the marriage--the more complex the divorce.

The experienced and dedicated staff at Marnell Law group, P.C. maintains a varied and professional skill set required to locate hidden assets or debts, and determine which should be included in divorce proceedings and which ones should not. This knowledge base becomes invaluable in complex divorce proceedings where forensic accounting, business analysis and review of short and long-term financial investments must be completed. While a judge ultimately decides and enforces the law of ‘equitable distribution of the marital property,’ the legal team hired (often including private investigators, real estate agents, CPAs, estate planning attorneys, psychologists/psychiatrists, or tax attorneys) is obligated to detail the marital assets succinctly so that a settlement can be finalized and your marriage, successfully concluded.

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