Property Division Attorney in Los Angeles, California
What issues commonly arise in the division of complex property?
What issues commonly arise in the division of complex property?
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well this answer’s not going to be as
interesting or juicy as custody
but issues that i see that are complex
are things like if somebody had a
business and let’s say they had it
before marriage in california because
the business was established before the
marriage the character of the business
is separate property so it belongs to
the person who owned the business before
the marriage
the issue that comes into play in a
divorce is if the if the value of the
business has appreciated so let’s say
the business is worth a hundred thousand
dollars on the date that you get married
and then the value increases to a
million dollars at the time that you
separate the court has to decide
why did the business appreciate
did it appreciate because
of the efforts of the working spouse or
the non-working spouse did they
primarily contribute to the growth or
appreciation in the business or was it
factors like inflation having nothing to
do with a spouse’s efforts
those are extraordinarily
complex issues and going back to what to
recommend to a client
never hire an attorney that has not
tried one of those cases because those
cases are factually intensive
they are legally intensive you have to
be able to pivot on a moment’s notice
whether it’s before you go to trial or
at the time of trial
you have to know a lot about financial
issues and accounting and
things like reasonable compensation so
if you don’t have those kind of cases in
the hands of an experienced attorney it
could be disastrous for you because they
could miss
very nuanced legal issues they could
miss
factual issues they can be ill-prepared
to take a deposition
usually in those cases and i had one
case
that the husband was married previously
and divorced and that case was published
in the court of appeal in california so
i represented the second spouse
and our position was that during the
marriage the
monies he received from the business
were community because it was based upon
his salary versus the profits from the
business in order to prove our point
we had to take numerous depositions of
his partners
and of his competitors and to other
people that worked in his business
and had to take depositions and take
testimony
of
expert witnesses that were business
appraisers and reasonable compensation
experts and tax experts
and that takes a team of very skilled
lawyers to be able to do that and to be
successful in terms of the outcome which
in that case it was
Los Angeles, CA family law attorney Lisa Helfend Meyer discusses the common issues that arise in the division of complex property. She points out that while not as sensational as custody disputes, some of the most complex issues she encounters in family law involve businesses owned prior to marriage. In California, a business established before marriage is generally considered separate property, belonging to the spouse who owned it beforehand. However, complexity arises when the business appreciates in value during the marriage. For example, if a business was worth $100,000 at the time of marriage and $1 million at separation, the court must determine the source of that appreciation. Did it result from the efforts of one spouse, both spouses, or external factors like inflation? These questions are legally and factually intricate.
She cautions clients never to hire an attorney who hasn’t handled such cases, as they are highly fact-intensive and require a deep understanding of financial matters, accounting, reasonable compensation, and the ability to pivot quickly during trial or pre-trial proceedings. Missteps by an inexperienced attorney can be disastrous, potentially missing nuanced legal or factual issues and failing to adequately prepare for depositions.
She recalls one particularly complex case involving a husband who had been divorced previously. She represented his second spouse, arguing that monies he received from the business during the marriage were community property because they were tied to his salary rather than the business profits. Successfully proving this required numerous depositions of business partners, competitors, and employees, as well as expert testimony from business appraisers, reasonable compensation experts, and tax specialists. She emphasizes that cases of this nature demand a skilled legal team, and in her experience, careful preparation and expertise are key to achieving a favorable outcome.
