High Net Worth Divorce and Addiction: How to Prepare for Court
Divorce is frequently a complex situation, and your financial status may add an extra layer of complication to your proceedings. Those with significant assets, from stocks to real estate, may face challenges that others may not. This situation becomes more complex when the divorce involves addiction.
At Chambers Family Law, we focus on helping clients navigate high net worth divorce and addiction, especially in how to prepare for court. These are complex cases, often involving types of evidence and testimony that may not appear in other cases.
Fortunately, we have experience navigating high net worth divorces involving addiction, and we are ready to help you with your high net worth divorce.
Challenges You May Face During a High Net Worth Divorce
As you pursue a divorce, you may find yourself facing unexpected challenges that may be specific to a high net worth divorce. These complications can be difficult to navigate without the support of a divorce attorney in Atlanta like Pete Chambers. Fortunately, we understand pitfalls like those listed below, and we are prepared to tackle each of these as they impact your proceedings.
Complexity of Finances Can Complicate Your Proceedings
When you or your spouse have a high net worth, it can add a layer of complexity to your case. Rather than simply dividing your bank accounts and property, you may have additional assets, such as stocks. While simple stocks can be easier to divide among the two parties, you may have more complex finances, such as a diversification of assets, real estate, and more.
Likewise, along with the types of assets you face, we also need to consider the tax consequences that can impact how your finances are actually valued. For example, if someone has $1 million in their savings account, and another has $1 million in an IRA account, the growing interest on the latter can dramatically impact the actual value of that asset. We bring in expert testimony with financial specialists and forensic CPAs to ensure we have an accurate account of what your assets are actually worth and the net amount of the assets that you will receive.
A Lack of Work Experience Can Impact Your Future
In cases of a high net worth divorce, you or your spouse may have limited work experience. For example, you may be married to a wealthy person and act as a stay-at-home parent. However, that can leave you in a complex financial situation because, even if your net worth is technically high, you may not have credit or financial leverage.
In this example, if you have not acted jointly with your spouse, creating credit and other information creditors will look for, you may have difficulty securing a mortgage or renting an apartment.
That can leave you needing to liquidate assets, which decreases the value of those assets, as you may have been planning to rely on the interest withdrawals. We consider these challenges before you face them, so that we can create a strategy that best suits your needs.
Addiction’s Effect on Custody and Visitation
Custody and visitation agreements can also be complex when dealing with addiction in any divorce, including a high net worth divorce. Addiction will impact these agreements, especially depending on how severe the addicted behaviors are, how long someone has been in recovery or treatment, in addition to other factors.
For example, if the spouse in active addiction (vs being in long term and sustained recovery) is a potential danger to their children, they may have a parenting plan agreement and schedule that has stronger safety guard measures and a more restrictive agreement; or in extreme cases may only be allowed to spend time with their children on a supervised basis.
The situation can also be complicated by the ages of your children. For example, younger children may be more vulnerable and subject to the risks of harm resulting from a parent’s addicted behaviors, especially if they are too young to independently seek help or explain their concerns. In these cases, we may pursue a strict custody or visitation agreement that gives you peace of mind that your children are safe at all times.
Gathering Evidence When Addiction Is a Factor
When pursuing a divorce involving addiction, specific evidence can be vital to pursuing an agreement that meets your goals and allows for sufficient protections for your children. In cases like these, we strive to gather evidence to confirm your spouse’s dangerous and risky behaviors that benefits your case, accomplishes your goals, and protects your children from harm. Below are some of the specific tools we can use to your benefit in a divorce involving addition.
Gathering Physical and Video Evidence
When pursuing a divorce involving addiction, gathering evidence of your spouse’s being in active addiction can be important. It can be difficult for them to argue against evidence that includes bank statements, subpoenas from businesses supporting this addiction, photos of paraphernalia, and more. We may even pursue evidence through an investigator to help support your case.
Video evidence can also be one of the best tools to prove dangerous conduct. That includes both footage you filmed and footage caught on tools like a Ring camera. We can provide a thorough review of any potential sources of physical evidence.
Evidence of Dangerous Conduct
In some cases, you may have further evidence of dangerous conduct by your spouse. For example, they may have already been arrested for driving under the influence or public intoxication. That arrest can be used as evidence that their addiction is negatively impacting your life and to confirm that your children are at risk of harm when with the addicted spouse unsupervised.
How to Protect Financial Interests when Divorcing an Addict
When divorcing an addict, second to your focus on your children and their safety, your financial interests will be another of your key concerns. For example, as the primary income provider, you may struggle to pay your bills because your spouse is overspending as a result of addiction. Fortunately, we have tools and methods that can help you secure your financial assets and protect your future.
For example, we may recommend filing an emergency motion to obtain control of your financial assets or to have a receiver appointed, who will be in charge of your assets and payments of bills during the case. This type of motion can help prevent overspending by your spouse, which can diminish the assets you have to divide and which you should be able to enjoy. This motion can also help ensure you are able to pay bills and have financial support for your children throughout the divorce.
If you are concerned about your spouse withdrawing or using money from joint financial accounts, we may also consider filing a notice to freeze your bank accounts. While this may leave you unable to use those same finances, it can prevent wasteful spending that could hurt your financial future. If we believe this step is your best option to protect your financial interest during the divorce, we are prepared to take action.
The Role of Experts in High Net Worth Divorces
When navigating a high net worth divorce, preparing for court frequently means preparing to present evidence through a number of professionals. These professionals/specialists can provide expert testimony that will provide context, evidence, and information about the specifics of your case. Below are some of the more common types of professionals we may contact for your high net worth divorce and what role they can play in your case.
Financial Experts
Because high net worth divorces involve a significant amount of money, we focus on ensuring that every dollar is accounted for. This is especially important in cases of divorce involving addiction, where your finances may be significantly impacted by one spouse’s addiction. In these cases, financial experts such as forensic accountants, CPAs, and financial planners can help you better strategize and prepare for court.
For example, when hiring a forensic accountant as part of your team, you have a financial expert who can help you identify years of reckless spending related to the addiction. You may gather evidence through their expert testimony of significant amounts of money spent purchasing drugs. Likewise, if you are not the primary income provider of the family, a financial planner can better present to the court and establish the financial impact of the divorce on you and how best to move forward and protect your interests.
Therapists and Addiction Specialists
Unfortunately, many people, including many Judges do not have a sufficient understanding, knowledge, or awareness of addiction, of what addiction is, and the significant impact and toll it takes on people and their families. In these cases, addiction specialists can provide more understanding and awareness of the specific challenges you are facing when pursuing a divorce from a spouse in active addiction, especially when children are involved. In fact, we may even contact child psychologists to help better determine the impact addiction has already on your family.
We Are Here to Help You Prepare for Your High Net Worth Divorce
Divorce is rarely simple, but a high net worth and addiction are two factors that can dramatically impact the difficulty and complexities of your case. You may face specific issues that many lawyers may not versed on and may not be prepared to tackle. In fact, pursuing a high net worth divorce without an attorney like Pete Chambers on your side can lead to an unsatisfactory agreement for your divorce, and buyer’s remorse.
At Chambers Family Law, we prioritize the safety of your children and securing your fair share of your marital assets. When facing a high net worth divorce involving addiction, knowing how to prepare for court is a key service we offer that helps us stand out among the competition. To learn more about these services and how we can help your specific case succeed, reach out to us by calling 404-795-5092 or filling out our online contact form.