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Spouses embroiled in divorce proceedings that involve a substantial amount of assets need representation from an experienced legal team that has a thorough background in tax, property, corporate, and divorce law. A St. Augustine high-asset divorce lawyer from the Law Offices of Jason K.S. Porter, P.A., will lead the ideal team to manage all of those matters.
Our divorce attorneys have decades of experience in high-asset divorce cases. We work with accountants, business consultants, appraisers, and property trackers to identify and assign legitimate values to every asset that will be allocated in your divorce proceedings.
How a High-Asset Divorce Lawyer Can Help You
In addition to drafting all necessary documents to initiate a St. Augustine divorce case, a high-asset divorce lawyer will:
- Track down assets that will be divided between the divorcing spouses, including shares in closely-held businesses, real estate, investment securities, fine art and collectibles, and retirement accounts
- Engage forensic accounts and expert appraisal services to determine the market value of exotic assets
- Review financial documents, employment contracts, and income and loss statements to uncover hidden assets
- Develop tax strategies to minimize capital gains taxes if assets need to be sold
- Negotiate Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QRDOs) to verify that a spouse is receiving a fair portion of funds in retirement plans
- Manage the interaction between the value of marital assets and court-ordered alimony and child-support payments
- Determining whether assets are marital property (i.e. acquired during the course of the marriage) or nonmarital property (i.e. assets owned or acquired before the marriage, or received by one spouse as a gift or an estate bequest)
A skilled attorney can also coordinate with financial advisors, tax professionals, and estate planners to ensure that your long-term financial interests remain protected throughout and after the divorce process.
How Quickly Will a High-Asset Divorce Be Resolved?
A St. Augustine high-asset divorce can take from 12 to 24 months before a court issues a final judgment of divorce and a property division order. Factors affecting the duration of the case include whether matters are contested, the complexity of the assets involved, the divorce caseload in St. John’s County, and delays in exchanging documents between the parties and retrieving information from third-party sources.
Your high-asset divorce attorney can give you a more specific estimate of how long your case might take after reviewing the case’s details. Your lawyer may not be able to control all factors that contribute to delays, but a highly professional attorney will keep you abreast of critical developments that might alter the progress of your divorce petition.
How Do Florida’s Divorce Laws Affect High-Asset Divorces?
Section 61, Part 75 of Florida’s Statutes specifies that assets in all divorces are to be divided fairly and equitably. This does not mean that assets in a St. Augustine high-asset divorce will be split evenly between the divorcing spouses. Rather, a court can consider income and net worth disparities, a spouse’s or a child’s special needs, and other extenuating circumstances to arrive at a final division of assets that is slightly or even significantly lopsided. An experienced high-asset divorce lawyer will fight for a distribution and settlement that is as fair as possible and will aggressively challenge misstatements and misapplications of law that deprive the lawyer’s clients of the settlements they deserve.
If You Have Concerns About Your High-Asset Divorce in St. Augustine, Pick Porter!
When you hire a St. Augustine high-asset divorce lawyer from the Law Offices of Jason K.S. Porter, P.A., you will receive the benefit of a legal team that has the experience and know-how to understand and protect your interests and to bring your case to a favorable resolution. We diligently review documents and materials to find hidden assets and work with seasoned appraisers and financial experts to determine the current market value of those assets.
Please call us to schedule an in-person or online consultation with one of our attorneys.