Celebrity Divorce Attorney in Los Angeles
Suppose you're a celebrity or high-net-worth individual who is seeking to get a divorce in California. In that case, you will need to retain an experienced family law lawyer as you will have some unique challenges to settle.
California is a no-fault divorce state, meaning you don't need to reason to get divorced or blame someone for why the marriage is ending. It also means that if your spouse were unfaithful, it wouldn't typically impact the property division, as each spouse is entitled to an equal split of marital property.
When you get divorced, you must consider two essential terms: community and separate. Community property (marital) is anything you and your spouse owned jointly, such as property, assets, and income acquired during the marriage.
Separate property is owned by you alone, such as any property or assets you owned before getting married. Celebrities often have a lot of wealth, property, and investments.
Thus, it's crucial to complete a comprehensive assessment of all property and debts of both spouses, individually and jointly.
While almost everyone getting married is not considering divorce, in reality, spouses and circumstances change over time, and couples can grow apart. Statistically, most marriages end in divorce, and celebrities are no different.
Once you start the divorce process, you must have experienced legal representation to guide you through each step. In most celebrity divorces, confidentiality and privacy are the top priority to minimize any negative impact on their reputation and career.
Further, any couple with a high net worth can make the divorce more complicated because of the potentially large amount of assets that will need to be divided. The division of property is often a hotly debated issue.
A celebrity couple with a high net worth is much more likely to face intense litigation in their divorce. Our California family law attorneys will examine this topic in greater detail below.
What Are Some Common Issues in High Assets Divorces?
There are many common issues when celebrity couples with high assets decide to get a divorce. In many cases, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement will lay out the details of dividing the assets, such as the marital home and other real estate properties.
In high-net-worth divorces, placing a value and dividing marital assets is essential for ensuring that both spouses receive a fair outcome. Our family law attorneys can help you protect your assets and portfolios and defend your legal rights for dividing property and other valuable assets, such as the following:
- Retirement and pension plans,
- Investment accounts,
- Restricted stock units (RSU),
- Profit-sharing plans,
- Annuities,
- Royalties,
- Patents,
- Intellectual property,
- Deferred benefits and compensation,
- Business properties,
- Commercial real estate,
- Partnerships and LLCs,
- Offshore accounts,
- Life insurance policies,
Many celebrities have partnerships with their spouse or are shareholders in a family business. In divorce, an accurate valuation is essential to establish an equitable division of marital property.
Our celebrity divorce lawyers have the experience and skills to help you value your common investment assets in a marital estate.
What About Child Custody and Spousal Support?
When getting a divorce, most couples don't have the public watching their every move.
Celebrities, like everyone else, have to negotiate child support, child custody, and spousal issues.
All issues involving the kids will be made based on their best interests. A divorce can't be finalized until these crucial issues are resolved.
Celebrity custody battles are challenging and should be avoided to keep the issue private.
Further, since most celebrities travel frequently, some unique decisions will need to be made:
- Where will the children live?
- Should the kids travel with their parents?
- What about their education?
- How much time should each parent get with the kids?
- How much financial support is needed?
All custody and financial agreements must be in the child's best interests. California family courts almost always favor a joint custody arrangement that keeps the children in regular contact with both parents. High-net-worth spousal support is based on different factors.
What About Privacy in a Celebrity Divorce?
When you settle your divorce privately, you must ask the family court to seal any documents related to the outcome. Our family law attorneys can work to ensure your divorce is kept out of public view.
Any divorce is usually a personal matter, and most people don't want their private life on public display, especially a celebrity who needs to protect their reputation and career. A bifurcation divorce allows spouses in a divorce to be restored to single persons' status while dealing with other pending issues.
We know how to navigate the California divorce process discreetly. There are some options to help keep details of your divorce private:
- Mediation - If you are on good terms with your spouse, this involves a neutral third-party mediator helping you reach a mutual agreement on crucial divorce issues. All negotiations in mediation are private.
- Arbitration – This is essentially a private trial where you and your spouse argue your position, with help from your attorney, in front of a neutral third-party arbitrator who will make the final decisions on the divorce terms.
- Collaborative divorce – This process allows negotiations with your spouse without going to the family court. Both spouses will have their lawyers and must agree to find a mutual agreement. There is no quitting.
All negotiations and outcomes of arbitration and collaborative divorce are private. Once completed, you and your spouse will sign a private contract that binds you to the terms.
Contact Our Celebrity Divorce Professionals
Our family law attorneys handle complex divorce cases, including high-net-worth individuals and public celebrities.
We are skilled negotiators and know how to obtain a favorable outcome while protecting your professional reputation and career. We will work to keep your business private from the public and media.
We understand that you must have discretion and privacy regarding divorce and child custody arrangements. We will also work to resolve your divorce issues promptly and fight to achieve what is most important to you.
We are highly experienced divorce lawyers and know how to deal with complex private matters. We know privacy from social media is essential. We can guide you through a divorce and ensure you understand all your legal rights.
Furman & Zavatsky are Los Angeles divorce and family law lawyers that provide legal representation across California. You can contact us for a free case evaluation by phone or use the contact form.