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The Benefits of Using Financial Experts in a Divorce

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Originally Posted On: https://lovelacelawpc.com/the-benefits-of-using-financial-experts-in-a-divorce/

Divorce is a stressful and emotional process, and it can become even more complicated when you and your spouse have valuable property to divide. The process is further complicated if you or your spouse invested in retirement accounts, started a business, or inherited money before your marriage. In those cases, splitting assets up can be more complex than you think. In these situations, a divorce lawyer often turns to experienced financial professionals to help protect their clients’ assets. Let’s talk about when it might be time to get a financial expert involved.

What does Texas law say?

In Texas, property owned by a married couple is either separate property or community property. Simply put, your separate property is property you owned before marriage, inherited, or received as a gift. Everything else will be considered community. It’s typical for couples to have separate and community property. In a divorce, the court only has the power to divide the community property. This makes it essential to be able to identify your separate property and distinguish it from the community estate.

Dividing Separate and Community Property

Often, certain assets (like retirement accounts and investment accounts) can contain a mixture of both separate and community property. How do you divide those?

The first step is to look at when the property was acquired. If you started an investment account before your marriage, it will be classified as separate property. Things get confusing, however, when you start contributing to the account during the marriage and your original investment earns interest or dividends. Those amounts will be considered community.

An experienced divorce attorney will be familiar with how to characterize these assets, and can advise you on what portion of the account may be your separate property. However, if you anticipate an argument from your spouse about how the asset should be divided, the best solution is to hire a financial expert to help investigate and advise on the situation.

Why would a divorce attorney consult a financial expert?

In addition to providing you with an analysis, a financial expert can also testify as to the characterization of your assets in the event that your case goes to trial. Having an expert present their analysis to the court can be extremely helpful to the judge when it comes to understanding all of the property issues in your divorce.

An expert may also be necessary to interpret documents relating to property characterization if you are dealing with a complex asset like a business or investments. Additionally, if you or your spouse own a business, an expert can also be essential in valuing the company, so that it can be properly divided.

 

Turn to Lovelace Law, P.C. for an Experienced Divorce Attorney

To protect your separate property and your interest in the community estate during divorce, utilizing an expert to analyze property issues and testify to characterization can be invaluable. An experienced family law attorney can help you find the right expert to assist in characterizing and valuing your estate.

If you have questions about protecting your assets during divorce, contact a Fort Worth divorce attorney at Lovelace Law and schedule an appointment today.

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