High Net-Worth Divorce in California FAQs

Trust the San Diego divorce lawyers at The Law Office of Doppelt and Forney, APLC to guide you through your high net-worth divorce in California. Call today at 1-800-769-4748 to schedule your free in-person or virtual consultation with an experienced attorney.

While there is no specific number that makes a divorce “high asset”, usually a divorcing couple with over one million dollars in assets would be considered “high asset”. However, according to Zillow, the average price of a home in San Diego is now $629,100, so often high asset divorces in San Diego involve much more than one million dollars of assets.

It is extremely important to have accurate appraisals and valuations done for all of your assets. It is also important to be able to distinguish between community property and separate property. In high-asset divorces, it is especially important to hire a lawyer to ensure there are no hidden assets, that all assets have been appraised accurately, and that it is clear which assets are community and property and which are separate property.

Common assets in a high net worth divorce:

• Businesses and professional practices
• Retirement plans
• Checking and savings accounts
• Homes, vacation homes, condos
• Investment properties
• Stocks
• Boats, planes, cars
• Stocks
• All art, furniture, decor

Under California’s community property rules, the value of the retirement plan accrued during the marriage must be split in half. This means your spouse is not necessarily entitled to half of your entire retirement plan, ONLY the money accrued during the marriage.

You need a court order to divide a 401(k). A Judge has to sign off on a Qualified Domestic Relations order (QDRO). The QDRO is in addition to the marital settlement agreement, and gives directions to the retirement plan administrator regarding how the retirement plan shall be divided between spouses.

We recommend you contact a lawyer to discuss your options regarding you or your spouse’s 401(k).

The first thing you want to do if you are going through a divorce and you own a business is retain a lawyer. Figuring out how to manage your business when you divorce can be extremely complicated. You’ve put blood, sweat and tears into your business, and you need an experienced divorce attorney to help you protect it.

The divorce attorney will help you figure out whether your business is community property or separate property. There are many factors to consider, including if the business was started before or after the marriage, the appreciation of the business during the marriage, community effort towards the business during the marriage, the type of business, future economic forecast for the business, revenue, and more. Your divorce attorney will give you a realistic analysis of your case and provide you with different strategies to help obtain your goals. If you own a business, small or large, it is important to consult an experienced family law attorney as soon as possible.

A high-net worth divorce can be a lot more complicated than a regular divorce because there are many more assets to be divided than in a regular divorce. Also, in many cases, one spouse makes significantly more than the other. You will want to make sure your rights are protected during your high asset divorce. The high asset divorce lawyers and Doppelt and Forney, APLC have significant experience handling and negotiating complicated divorce cases with high success.

Do you own a business or have significant assets? Don’t wait, hire a lawyer you can trust to protect your rights. Call now at 800-769-4748 to schedule your free in-person or virtual consultation with a seasoned family law attorney. We proudly serve clients in San Diego and surrounding communities, including Chula Vista, Coronado, Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Jolla, Oceanside, Ramona, San Marcos and Vista.