Like a corporate partnership, marriage creates a financial relationship in which each spouse owes a fiduciary duty to the other. This requires the highest good faith and fair dealing when financial transactions are concerned. This also includes the obligation to make full disclosure to the other spouse of material facts concerning assets and liabilities (and a variety of additional information) in which both spouses share an interest.
The Impact of Fiduciary Duty during Divorce Proceedings
Where to find hidden assets during your divorce
If you are going through a divorce, chances are that you feel many different issues pulling you in all directions. While you may have more pressing matters on your mind, such as the welfare of your children, you should not overlook the importance of asset division. Obtaining a fair settlement or court order is critical if you want to maintain financial security in the first months and years after your divorce.
When both spouses provide a full and honest disclosure of assets, this allows the couple in mediation or a judge in a litigated divorce to equally divide the property according to California law. However, what can you do if your spouse is less than honest about his or her assets?
What Happens To Pets In A Divorce?
Historically, pets have been treated like property in divorce, subject to the same property division rules as the family home or the car. This has generated concerns, as most pet owners see their pets as members of the family, not assets with a monetary value. The California legislature has responded to these concerns by passing a law that will dramatically change how dogs, cats and other pets are treated in a divorce.
Trying to break free from a financially abusive spouse
When you think of abuse in a relationship, you may think of physical violence or even emotional trauma. What may not come to mind is financial abuse, but this is more common than you may realize, and it may result in long-term harm of you are the target of this behavior.
You may not consider yourself a victim of financial abuse, especially if your spouse has provided you with a nice home and other things you need and want. In fact, your friends may envy your lifestyle. However, when it comes to money, you may feel like a prisoner, unable to make decisions about spending for household items, let alone planning for a major change in your life, such as seeking a divorce.
How is Martial Property Divided During Divorce in California?
When dividing marital property pursuant to divorce in California, the rules are clear, but are also often confusing. California is a community property state, and as such all property acquired during marriage is divided 50/50. Most states do not operate under community property rules, preferring instead to use a system of property division known as "equitable division." Equitable division gives the court much more discretion in applying concepts of "fault" to the decision of who gets what in a divorce. California, however, is what is known as a "no fault" state, meaning fault is not considered in this context of deciding who gets what, because (to put it simply) all assets and debts acquired during marriage belong equally to both spouses and must be divided equally upon dissolution of marriage.
Seven co-parenting resolutions for the new year
Newly single people often make personal new years' resolutions. Lose weight, eat healthier, visit friends. In addition to working towards your better self, you may consider creating a new years' resolution towards or with your co-parent.
How to Handle High Asset Divorces
Divorce can be a contentious, time-consuming and often complex process. High net worth divorces compound those complexities. With more assets to divide, it can take more time to reach a fair and reasonable divorce settlement. (If you have a prenuptial or post-nuptial agreement, that can help simplify the process.)
Sole custody: Proving you are the better parent
When you first got married, you and your spouse may have been like many California married couples who felt like they were ready to take on the world as long as they had each other. Such intense emotions are common in newlyweds and tend to become a bit more subdued as time goes on and life happens. Those "us against the world" feelings may have resurfaced when you started having children. Parenthood has a way of making spouses feel strongly united.
You may have never imagined that you'd be facing the circumstances you are right now, preparing for divorce and planning to seek sole custody of your children. If you want the court to grant sole custody, it essentially means you have to convince the judge overseeing the case that you are the better parent and that it would be in your children's best interests to live with you over you ex.
Can you get your visitation order changed?
Now that some time has passed since you settled your divorce, you may be feeling confident that you and your children are adapting as well as expected to your new lifestyle. While you might still have a few "down" days here and there, for the most part, you have hopefully built a strong support system around yourselves that you can easily access when needed. Perhaps your extended family and closest friends are a big part of that system.
Like most good parents in California and beyond, you realize that with life comes change. Your children have likely already adapted to many changes since your divorce; however, what if a situation arises since you signed your visitation agreement that warrants further change? Depending on the exact issue at hand, you may be able to request modification of your existing court order.
Infidelity takes a back seat in divorce...sort of
If you are the type of person who simply won't stand for your spouse cheating on you, then when you found out about it, you probably decided that your marriage needed to end. Despite your anger, and perhaps a desire to punish your spouse, you cannot allege adultery or infidelity as grounds for divorce.
California's courts do not assign blame when it comes to the breakdown of a marriage. However, the infidelity could play a role in your divorce after all.
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