With Strength And Compassion
Many couples are able to dissolve their marriage amicably and require little to no court intervention in coming to a child custody or spousal maintenance arrangement. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, especially when one of the parties suspects the other of substance abuse or hiding assets. In these situations, it can be tempting for one party to look through…
Texas law requires that divorcing couples divide their property in an equitable manner. However, this rule only applies to marital property, as separate property will remain under the sole ownership of the original holder. Inheritances, for example, are considered the separate property of the person to whom they were bequeathed, even if they were given to one spouse during a…
A survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education found that 30 percent of spouses have been deceptive about money with their spouse, and almost 60 percent admit to hiding money from them. Considering these statistics, it is not surprising that one of the most contentious issues in a divorce is the division of assets. It is not uncommon for…
During divorce proceedings, both parties are prohibited from committing marital waste. This means that neither spouse can intentionally waste any marital assets just so that the other does not receive them during the divorce. Although Texas law strictly forbids the dissipation of assets during the dissolution of a marriage, marital waste still can and does occur, so if you are…
As the negative effects of acrimonious divorces on families become better understood, more and more couples are attempting to dissolve their marriages amicably through collaborative divorce. Collaborative divorces allow couples to work together in coming to an agreement about property division and custody arrangements. This process can save both parties a substantial amount of time and money, while also eliminating…
Earlier this year, the Panama law firm, Mossack Fonseca, leaked more than 11 million confidential documents. Said to contain information on how some of the world’s wealthiest people hide their assets, those documents gave insight to just how easy it is to swindle a spouse during high asset divorce proceedings. But, until now, the general public did not have access…
For certain types of cases, collaborative law may be an excellent tool for a high-asset divorce and other similar family law proceedings. When the legislature enacted Chapter 15 of the Family Code in 2001, it was one of the first collaborative law statutes in the country. Two years later, the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas, one of the leading practice…
Constructive fraud is quite common in high net worth divorce cases. Many times, these matters involve long-term marriages which slowly deteriorated over a period of several years, giving the spouses ample opportunity to surreptitiously redirect community funds. There is also a compounding factor; for example, Wife may think little of giving children from a prior marriage a few hundred dollars…
In many respects, a stick of dynamite and a high-asset divorce have a great deal in common. Prior to the inevitable explosion, there is a burning fuse. Sometimes the fuse is very short; for example, there may have been an extramarital affair or an outburst of physical violence. Other times, the fuse is considerably longer, as differences simmer and eventually…
The more assets you and your spouse have, the more complicated your divorce will be. Trying to manage the emotions as well as the future financial impact of the breakup of your marriage is a big job. Before you get too far into discussion about how to split up the property or how support should be paid, make sure you…