Marriage might be one of the biggest decisions a person makes in their life. That is, until they are faced with the possibility of a divorce, which may have legal repercussions that are ultimately even greater than the decision to marry. With the high stakes involved in a complex divorce, high net worth individuals should never leave major legal issues to chance, and with the help of an experienced Maryland family law attorney, they should be prepared for every contingency.
The biggest change that comes with a divorce might be the financial side of life. When a person has been married for many years and has accumulated significant assets during that time, they may be shocked to learn how much their spouse expects to obtain in the divorce settlement. In Maryland, each spouse gets an equitable division of the marital property, even when one of the spouses is the primary contributor to the couple’s income.
Still, equitable division doesn’t mean an equal split, where each party would receive exactly half of the marital estate. Depending on various factors, there can be a lot of variance in what assets will be assigned to which party. For example, one spouse might value the house over liquid assets, and they may be able to compensate the other spouse in other ways, such as an agreement to provide continuing alimony for a period of time after the divorce. Other assets, such as cars, artwork, retirement plans and pensions also come into play, so there are a lot of ways to arrive at what the court and the parties deem an equitable division.
Jeffrey Greenblatt has over 40 years of experience helping clients with all of their legal needs in a complex divorce. For more information, the Silver Spring family lawyer is available for a family law consultation.