Divorce can look very different depending upon the circumstances of the involved couple. For California couples without children at home or significant wealth to their names, divorce can be a relatively straightforward process of dividing personal assets and signing legal forms. For others, divorce can be a complicated negotiation of separating vast investments, multiple real estate properties and extensive assets worth considerable sums of money.
While generations ago it may not have seemed necessary for many couples to look for legal professionals with high income divorce experience, today more and more men and women are attaining higher levels of wealth as individuals and as married people. According to the United States Census Bureau’s data on the distribution of wealth in America, individuals aged 65-years and older have experienced significant increases in wealth over the decade between 2000 and 2011. That increase may set many older Americans up for important financial negotiating when they pursue marital dissolutions.
Grey divorces, or divorces between older individuals are becoming more common in the twenty-first century. Americans are living longer, earning more money and making wiser decisions about their retirement plans and personal investments. As a result, some people find that after decades of marriage they are in different places in life than their long-term spouses. Desiring to live out their lives on their preferred terms, some couples of advancing age choose to end their marriages rather than allowing death to part them.
For couples of retirement age and who no longer have children living in the home, high income divorces are a reality. The significant nest eggs couples built together over years of marriage can be heavily impacted when important financial considerations are left out of divorce negotiations. For people who have experienced positive financial gains throughout their lives, divorce can be an intimidating process since so much wealth can be divided or lost. Attorneys who specialize in high income divorce can guide their clients through the necessary steps to understanding how their money can be divided under California divorce law.
