How Does a Divorce Lawyer Help Their Client Protect Their Assets During a Divorce?
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Published: 2024-04-03 11:54:05

Divorce is always a challenging process, and particularly when it comes to the division of assets. Skilled family law attorneys in Houston are especially necessary when a divorce is contentious or there are significant assets that need to be divided up.

How Do Family Law Attorneys in Houston Protect Their Clients' Assets During a Divorce?
**Assessing Assets**
The first step in asset protection is a comprehensive assessment of the client's financial situation. A divorce lawyer will review all assets, including real estate, investments, business interests, retirement accounts, and personal property. This understanding is crucial for formulating a strategy to protect these assets.

The biggest thing that must be done first is to distinguish between marital and separate property. Generally, marital property is subject to division while separate property, which are assets acquired before marriage or through inheritance or gifts to just one party in the marriage, is usually protected.

A lawyer will work to ensure that separate property is correctly identified and safeguarded. Texas is a community property state, and this means that all property acquired during the marriage is considered owned equally by both spouses and therefore subject to division upon divorce. [Find out more](https://www.skillernfirm.com/divorce/) here about how to connect with an experienced lawyer who understands how Texas laws will affect your assets and be able to protect them.

**Negotiation and Mediation Skills**
A Texas divorce lawyer adept in these skills can help you engage in profitable discussions that lead to mutually agreeable settlements, which is especially crucial when significant assets are involved. Effective negotiation involves understanding and articulating the client's priorities, finding common ground with the other side, and crafting agreements that safeguard important assets.

Mediation, on the other hand, introduces a neutral third party to help both spouses find a resolution that works for everyone. This approach is often less adversarial and can result in more creative and personalized asset division solutions. Importantly, settling through negotiation or mediation allows for more privacy and control over the outcome compared to a public court decision.

**Working With Forensic Accountants**
In high-asset or complex financial divorce cases in Texas, your lawyer may connect with forensic accountants to uncover and accurately value a wide range of assets, including offshore accounts, investments, and business holdings. Forensic accountants apply their expertise to trace hidden assets, evaluate financial records for discrepancies, and provide a clear picture of the couple's whole financial picture.

This level of financial scrutiny ensures a comprehensive assessment, which is necessary for a truly equitable asset division under Texas community property laws. By incorporating forensic accounting into their strategy, a divorce lawyer can significantly strengthen their client's position, particularly in cases where one spouse may not have full visibility into the couple's financial situation.

**Business Interests and Investments**
For divorcing clients in Texas who have substantial business interests or complex investment portfolios, a divorce lawyer's strategy often focuses on minimizing disruption to as well as protecting these assets. This can be particularly challenging under the community property framework, where business assets acquired during the marriage may be subject to division if they are deemed marital property. Even if one spouse outright owns the business, if the other has put substantial work into the business or even put aside their own career to allow the owning spouse time to focus on the business, the courts may call this "marital property" and expect equitable division.

A lawyer may work on valuing the business accurately and negotiating an equitable division that doesn't harm the business's operations. In some cases, this might involve arranging for one spouse to retain full control of the business, compensating the other spouse with other assets. The lawyer might also explore structuring the settlement in a way that allows for business continuity and stability, which can be vital for protecting both parties' investments. In doing so, the lawyer considers not just the immediate implications of asset division, but also the long-term financial health of both the business and the client.

**Retirement Accounts and Pensions**
Retirement accounts and pensions often represent significant assets. Retirement accounts and pensions accrued during the marriage are typically considered joint property and thus subject to division upon divorce. A lawyer will work to ensure that retirement assets are divided equitably, taking into account the specific details of each account, such as vesting schedules and contributions.

In Texas, this division is often facilitated through a Domestic Relations Order (DRO), similar to a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). A DRO is a legal order that recognizes a spouse's right to receive a predetermined portion of the other spouse's retirement plan.

This is just some of what goes into protecting your assets, and, as you can see, things can get quite complicated, quite quickly. It's almost always a good idea to connect with lawyer if you're going through a divorce, but you should especially contact qualified family law attorneys in Houston if you have significant assets that need to be ​protected.