Category Archives: Property Division

What do You do When You Think Your Ex is Hiding Divorce Assets?
Property Division

What do You do When You Think Your Ex is Hiding Divorce Assets?

During your California divorce, you and your ex will be required to identify and disclose certain financial information to one another. Ideally, everyone will follow the rules and be honest about their assets. However, there can be situations when a party is not being financially forthcoming. If you are going through a California divorce and believe your former spouse has secret property, you need to ask: What do you do when you think your ex is hiding divorce assets? Continue reading →

Do California Divorce Courts Award Custody of Pets?
Property Division

Do California Divorce Courts Award Custody of Pets?

When you own a dog, cat, or other pet, they are often more than an animal companion—they are like members of the family. Owners can form intense bonds with their shared household animals. Therefore, not surprisingly, the question of who gets the family pet can become contentious during a divorce. If you are involved in a California divorce and have a household animal, you may need to know: Do California divorce courts award custody of pets? Continue reading →

Dividing Business Interests in a Divorce
Property Division, Property Division

Dividing Business Interests in a Divorce

Many couples own business interests. These can take the form of a business they own, operate, or hold a significant share. When couples decide to divorce, dividing business interests usually becomes a huge issue. After all, property division, which is itself very complicated, becomes even more complex when business assets are involved.

The Preliminaries of Dividing Business Interests

First, it’s essential to know what you are dealing with. Trying to divide property between spouses is impossible without certain information, including:

  • Are the business interests separate or community property? In a community property state like California, most marital property and debts split roughly 50-50. However, is your business separate property – owned by one spouse – or community property – owned by both spouses? In most cases, separate business interests remain with the spouse who owns them.  Community business interests are dealt with differently.
  • Are there any agreements that affect property division? For example, did the couple sign pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements? If so, those agreements may address any business assets. Likewise, a buy-sell agreement may address how to handle business assets in the event of a divorce.
  • How much is the business worth? Valuation of business assets is challenging and should not be attempted on your own. You and your divorce lawyer will discuss how to handle valuation, but you will probably need to hire an expert. Undervaluing your business is literally leaving money on the table.

After working through the issues mentioned above, along with any others that apply, you and your spouse can begin dividing business interests.

The Final Decision

Often, couples will use one of the following methods of dividing their business assets:

  • The Buy-Out. One party can buy the other party’s interests rather than dividing them. In some cases, one spouse might be more vested in the business. The problem here is that the purchasing spouse must be liquid enough to complete the purchase.
  • Dividing. The parties could divide the business equally. For example, if the couple owns 80% of the company’s shares, each spouse could take 40%. Alternatively, the couple could split the equipment, accounts receivable, and real property. This might work especially well for parties who own a professional services business.
  • Selling to a Third-Party. In this scenario, the couple receives the cash instead of dividing their actual ownership interests. It’s still necessary to properly value the business.
  • Continuing as Co-Owners. Some ex-spouses may remain so amicable that they simply continue owning and operating their business. This is rare and could be very risky. If the spouse’s relationship becomes rockier after the divorce, they may have to return to court to split the business for good.

Learn More About Dividing Business Interests

Please call us at (415) 293-8314 to schedule a confidential appointment with one of our attorneys. Ms. Burger is a California Certified Family Law Specialist and founder of the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger. We assist clients in California’s Northern to Southern Coast, including San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Marin, San Jose, Gold River, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura/Oxnard, and surrounding communities.

Am I Still Financially Responsible for My Ex-Spouse’s Debts
Property Division, Debt, Property Division

Am I Still Financially Responsible for My Ex-Spouse’s Debts?

Getting his final divorce order was one of the best days in Jason’s life. Finally, he could move on without his ex-wife and all her baggage. He was unpleasantly surprised to start receiving late notices from creditors and angry phone calls from collection companies. They were about his ex-spouse’s debts, not his. Can Jason be held responsible for these debts?

Community Property – and Debt

During divorce proceedings, a couple’s property and debts are split into two categories:

  • Community, which both spouses own;
  • Separate, which one spouse owns;
  • Mixed Community and Separate, which means the property or debt could be partially owned by the couple.

Property division is complex. It’s not always easy to determine whether something is community, separate, or mixed. In a community property state like California, community property and debts are usually split between the couple. As Jason unfortunately learned, there’s more to dividing debts than meets the eye.

The Nature of Debts

A community debt is generally one that the couple:

  • acquired together during the marriage,
  • one party acquired during the marriage.

Sometimes one spouse will sign for a loan or get a credit card while married but in his or her own name. Then the other spouse uses the debt or helps pay for it. This can complicate the matter further because the debt may now become part of the marital estate.

Couples may simply split their debts in their settlement agreement. In Jason’s case, he took one credit card while his ex took the other. However, when she stopped paying on the card, Jason found he might still be responsible for his ex-spouse’s debt. That’s because the divorce decree generally does not affect the agreement that caused the debt. So, if both parties sign for a loan that one party gets in the divorce settlement, the other party’s name is still on the loan as far as the lender is concerned. Basically, they just want to get paid. That’s understandable but frustrating for the party left paying for an ex-spouse’s debts. 

Talk to a California Divorce Attorney About Your Ex-Spouse’s Debts

Make sure you know where you stand financially when the ink dries on your divorce order. Suddenly learning that you have to pay your ex-spouse’s debts when you are just starting your new life is not ideal, to say the least.

Talk to an experienced California divorce attorney today. Please call us at (415) 293-8314 to schedule a confidential appointment with one of our attorneys.

Please call us at 415-293-8314 to discuss your case. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger assist clients along California’s Northern to Southern Coast, including San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Marin, San Jose, Gold River, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura/Oxnard, and surrounding communities.

Property Division How Does it Work in a Community Property State
Property Division, California Divorce

Property Division: How Does it Work in a Community Property State

State divorce laws govern divorce settlements. Generally, state laws allow either community property or equitable distribution schemes when dividing a couple’s assets. However, only nine states use community property law: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you live in a community property state, it’s important to understand how property division will work if you or your spouse files for divorce.

Separate vs. Community Property

The basic rule of thumb is that a couple’s community property and debts are split 50-50 during a divorce. However, not all of a married couple’s assets are divided. Property can be either separate or community.

  • Most assets and debts accumulated by either spouse during the marriage are considered community property.
  • However, assets and debts brought into the marriage by one person usually remain the separate property of that person.

Separate property usually does not enter into the divorce property division equation.

Although this sounds simple, determining whether something is separate or community property can be complicated.  Separate assets brought into the marriage may be used in a way that make them community property. An inheritance received during a marriage is separate property but mixing the inherited property with community property could change it for the purposes of property division.

Marital Settlement Agreement or Court Decision?

During the property division phase of a divorce, the couple can negotiate how property is split. Their agreement does not have to be 50-50, but the division should be fairly equal. Otherwise, a judge may not sign off on the couples’ marital settlement agreement.

When calculating property division, a couple will:

  • review financial disclosures, including the Schedule of Assets and Debts;
  • make sure both parties agree on community property and debts;
  • compare property valuations and debt to make sure they agree;
  • propose a roughly equal net share of property and debts for each spouse.

Special consideration may be given to retirement plans, debts with complicated terms or high interest rates,

If a couple cannot agree on the split, a judge may make the tough decisions for them. Also, remember that property remains separate or community until the judge signs your final divorce order.

Make Sure Your Property Division Goes Smoothly

Talk to an experienced California divorce attorney today. Please call us at (415) 293-8314 to schedule a confidential appointment with one of our attorneys.

Please call us at 415-293-8314 to discuss your case. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger assist clients with divorce matters in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Marin County, Santa Barbara, Ventura/Oxnard, San Jose, San Diego, Gold River (Sacramento), and surrounding communities.
Why Preliminary Financial Disclosures Are Important
California Divorce, Legal Separation, Property Division, Property Division, Spousal Support

Why Preliminary Financial Disclosures Are Important

The typical divorce case involves many issues, including child custody, spousal support, and property division. Transparency is key to fairly resolving these issues, especially when it comes to dividing a couple’s marital assets and debts. In a community property state like California, debts and assets acquired after marriage usually belong to both parties. That’s why the preliminary financial disclosures are important – it’s hard to divide property when you don’t know it exists.

What are preliminary financial disclosures?

The divorce action starts when one person files a petition to dissolve the marriage. At the same time, or within 60 days, the petitioner serves the preliminary financial disclosures on the other party. If the other party responds to the petition, he or she must also serve preliminary financial disclosures on the petitioner.

Several documents make up the disclosure packet:

  • Declaration of Disclosure,
  • Income and Expense Declaration,
  • Schedule or Assets and Debts OR a Property Declaration, and
  • Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure.

Courts generally do not grant divorces if the parties have not submitted their financial disclosure forms.

What happens if the preliminary financial disclosures are wrong?

It’s entirely possible one party could omit assets from the disclosures accidentally. It’s also possible that the assets are being hidden to avoid sharing them with the other party.

If disclosures are incomplete or wrong, the simple answer is that the property will not be divided evenly. One party may not receive everything they deserve. The court may approve the property settlement without learning of the hidden property.

Accidental omissions on the preliminary financial disclosures may be easy to fix. However, deliberately concealing assets can lead to penalties. For example, a court may award 100% of a community property asset to the innocent party instead of only 50%.

Make Sure Your Property Is Disclosed and Divided Properly

Talk to an experienced California divorce attorney today. Please call us at (415) 293-8314 to schedule a confidential appointment with one of our attorneys.

Please call us at 415-293-8314 to discuss your case. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger assist clients with divorce matters in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Marin County, Santa Barbara, Ventura/Oxnard, San Jose, Gold River (Sacramento), and surrounding communities.