Large-asset divorce — your largest business deal

Large-asset divorce — your largest business deal

Wealth is rarely created by accident, and neither is preservation of wealth. Large asset cases require a unique blend of accounting, tax and family law expertise and application.

With current income tax rates reaching almost 44%, it is easy to understand that “Uncle Sam” is the silent partner in every divorce case. Complex property division includes asset and debt determination, characterization, analysis, valuation and tax planning. Each stage of a case is an important foundation to the next.

Your divorce may be the largest financial deal you ever transact, and it is imperative that you treat it as such.

 

 

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Tax returns provide roadmap for evaluating divorcing parties’ finances

Tax returns provide roadmap for evaluating divorcing parties’ finances

The following is excerpted from a paper by Edwin Davis and delivered at the 2014 Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio. The complete paper can be downloaded here.

Evaluation of the financial condition of parties in a family law case can become a very detailed undertaking. As family lawyers, we need a starting place to assist us in the discovery process – request for production, interrogatories, depositions, etc. Overall, our best roadmap is the parties’ tax returns.

Year in, year out, parties must report their income and deductions to the Internal Revenue Service, and state their income source and category of […]

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Better to have a prenup than regrets

Better to have a prenup than regrets

There is a right way and a wrong way to approach prenuptial and other marital agreements. “Bill,” a 45-year-old asset manager for a large international wealth management group, learned the hard way that hiring someone to handle a prenup correctly isn’t so easy.

In college, Bill’s hobby of analyzing, buying and selling stocks grew into a very lucrative career. Married to a beautiful woman for 20 years, with two children, Bill seems like the picture postcard of success. Behind the scenes, however, Bill’s marriage is a train wreck. It has taken the toll on his workaholic personality and contributed to progressive alcohol […]

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