Dealing with divorces involving high net worth individuals are complicated by the sophisticated financials. Elaborate investment portfolios, business income and other factors require the attorneys to sometimes involve experts to truly determine the actual income a person generates, which is used in child support and other calculations.
Financial issues aren’t reserved for only the higher-income individuals. If someone is self-employed and receives cash payments on a regular basis, it’s quite common for some of those earnings to go unreported. The result is the tax returns may not reflect the actual income earned.
The attorneys and the court have to work carefully to establish the proper baseline for the various payments the individual may be required to make. This issue is further complicated because the Kentucky Child Support Guidelines top out at incomes of $15,000 per month. If the income exceeds this threshold, having a strong negotiator as an attorney will be absolutely in your best interest.
In this brief video, I discuss some of these issues and provide a few tips as to how those unreported sources of income may be discovered.
Divorces involving high net worth individuals may also involve the valuation of stock options, company ownership interests, ownership of various properties (both real and personal).
As an attorney and licensed mediator, I strongly recommend pursuing mediation in these types of cases. One advantage is that you’re more likely to keep these highly sensitive financial issues out of the court record. Another advantage is that both individuals can agree to establish any type of agreement for whatever reason. There are advantages to moving efficiently through a divorce process.
I’ll leave you, once again, with this thought, regardless of your income levels, in a mediation, you maintain the maximum level of control over the final outcome. If your case goes to trial, a judge will make decisions on your behalf.