Some of the most complicated and contested issues in a divorce can involve the division of assets and debts. At Stolar Law Group, we can help you protect your assets and resolve your property division issues. Our lawyers are committed to helping our clients—people like you—protect their families and financial interests during a divorce. Backed by 40 years of experience, we bring more than our legal skill to the table; we provide a truly caring perspective and give each client the personalized representation their case needs.
We can bring the following to the table:
- 40 years of legal experience
- Extensive familiarity with Los Angeles courts
- Strong cases that are built with the help of financial experts
- Spanish-speaking services
CALL US AT (424) 421-0009 TO DISCUSS YOUR CASE DURING AN INITIAL EVALUATION.
DELIVERING EXPERIENCED & CARING ADVOCACY
Divorce is a highly stressful experience, especially when assets and property are involved. This is why our lawyers approach each case with diligence and care. We are experienced and attentive from start to finish. Regardless of the complexity of your asset and property case, we have the resources and insight to provide you with an effective solution.
Issues involving assets and property often include:
HOW TO DEAL WITH COMMINGLED PROPERTY IN DIVORCE
One of the most frequently contested issues, is whether specific assets should be treated as community or separate property. Community property is subject to valuation and division, whereas separate property belongs to one spouse alone. Determining whether assets either divorcing spouse acquired before the marriage, or through a gift or inheritance, should be divided involves establishing whether those assets were commingled—that is, whether they were intermixed with marital assets during the course of the marriage.
We have the proven ability to interpret the findings of forensic accountants and find the best path to a favorable settlement or judgment for our client by:
- Producing evidence that a piece of real estate, investment account, family heirloom, or other asset was never commingled and belongs to our client alone
- Contesting opposing attorneys’ claims involving separate or commingled property
- Developing a comprehensive accounting of all assets involved
- Creating an account of both parties’ contributions to the marriage
- Attacking or defending a prenuptial agreement with diligence and tenacity
INVESTMENT DIVISION DURING THE DIVORCE PROCESS
As you prepare to negotiate a property division settlement involving pensions, 401(k) funds, IRAs, and other types of retirement funds, you should make a complete inventory of you and your spouse’s retirement assets. Determining the actual value and the assignment of ownership of pensions, 401(k) savings accounts, and IRAs is often a complicated matter. Not all retirement assets are equal. Different types of funds have different characteristics, which may translate to differences in the way they might be valued and divided in a divorce.
Stolar Law Group can assist you with matters involving investment division. We can help ensure your interests are protected in all aspects of property division, including division of retirement assets. We are prepared to dig in and efficiently obtain necessary information, which may be more time and cost-effective than if you had worked with a less experienced lawyer.
Among the important questions we will ask are:
- What type of funds are components of your retirement portfolio, and how do they work?
- What retirement assets, if any, did you and/or your spouse bring into the marriage?
- What portion of your retirement funds was accumulated during the marriage?
We understand how critical it is to work with the right financial experts in preparation for division of pensions, 401(k), and IRAs in a California divorce. We are ready to explain to you how Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO) are likely to figure into your overall property division process. Ultimately, you should clearly understand what portion of your or your spouse’s retirement assets will go to each of you when the time comes to retire.
ASSISTING INDIVIDUALS WITH BUSINESS PROPERTY DIVISION
Determining an accurate value of the business is often a major undertaking. Values change from one day to the next with changing stock markets, commodities markets, real estate markets, and the overall economic climate of a region. In order to ensure that your or your spouse’s business is correctly valued in preparation for a California divorce, work with an experienced family law firm that understands technical, financial matters such as ours.
Added to the challenges of determining who actually owns what is the fact that business assets can include a number of different things:
- Commercial real estate
- Tools, machinery, and other implements used to conduct business
- Consumable products paid for by a business and used in the process of conducting the business, such as paper, glue, scissors, photocopy toner, pens, and pencils
- Goods, including raw materials and finished products ready to be sold
- Intellectual property
- Human talent (staff)
- Goodwill and reputation
Business property can be one of the most challenging components of property division in a high-asset divorce. For example, someone who owns business assets may be a co-owner or one investor among several or many, with a partial stake in the business—or perhaps one spouse has a greater interest in a business than the other. We wish to help you resolve any business property division issue that may arise during your divorce, no matter how complex.
CONTACT OUR ATTORNEYS WITHOUT DELAY
Our firm can provide you with the experienced divorce counsel and asset protection strategies you need to feel more confident about your future. Our legal team has a reputation for going above and beyond for all of our clients.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW WE CAN HELP, PLEASE CALL US.
