It is immediately understandable, of course, why asset division quickly emerges as a topic of prime importance in many Texas divorces. As we note on our website at the San Antonio Law Office of Rebecca Gonzalez, P.C., “The amount of property you take with you when you leave your marriage will play a major role in your future comfort.”
For obvious reasons, an equitable property division can be an especially outsized concern in marital dissolutions involving significant assets.
In many high-net-worth divorces, wealth derives from myriad and broad-based sources. Assets in play can easily include diverse realty holdings. Perhaps (and as noted in our September 6 blog post), a family business is at the forefront of negotiations. Retirement benefits, too, are likely to be a key focus of divorce discussions, with wealth sources potentially spanning tax-sheltered company accounts, stock options, pensions, bonuses and additional investment holdings.
As we noted in the above-cited blog entry, a presumption attaches to asset division in Texas pursuant to its community property scheme, namely, “that all marital assets are divided in half.”
Practically speaking, though, that is just a guideline and starting point, which a proven high-asset divorce attorney uses as a baseline for close evaluation of multiple factors that can materially adjust the bottom line in a given case.
A key goal for any experienced family law attorney advocating for a high-asset divorce client is to identify separate property that is exempt from division in a dissolution. That can obviously be a complex endeavor in some instances, which underscores the rationale for securing legal counsel with a demonstrated record of client advocacy and favorable results in asset-division matters.
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