End the Pain and Drain of Divorce
Complex Property Division Lawyers

Serving clients in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Richardson, Carrollton, Highland Park, University Park, Garland and all of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Grayson, Hunt and Tarrant counties.

What often makes a divorce complex is the amount of property interests involved. Here are examples of complex property interests:

• Ownership of one or more businesses or income-producing properties.
• Multiple retirement and investment accounts that have been brought into the marriage.
• Missing or destroyed records. (To claim assets are separate property, you must be able to prove it through records.)
• Significant incentive compensation such as stock options, bonuses, and performance incentive pay that will pay out at some date.

At The Barbknecht Firm, P.C., part of our job as lawyers is to help our clients deal with the anxiety of divorce by giving them predictability. By understanding how Texas courts have dealt with similar assets in the past, we can help you set realistic expectations and plan accordingly.

Valuing Significant Assets
A complex property division involves a number of legal and procedural steps. To begin with, your divorce attorney needs to hire experts in valuing the marital assets involved. Here are some examples of how different types of assets are valued:

• Business interests need to be valued fairly and competently. If one party is going to retain the business, there needs to be a financial offset for the other party.
• When valuing pre-tax retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans, you need to consider that up to a third of the value will disappear in taxes when the money is withdrawn.
• Future compensation such as stock options and long-term performance incentive pay need to be valued in today's dollars, which can deduct a significant portion of the potential future value.

If you are a business owner, you should consult an experienced divorce lawyer months before your divorce action. There are a number of legal and legitimate steps you can take to minimize the effect your separation and divorce settlement will have on your business. You should be aware that private financial information about your business will need to be disclosed and this may need to be discussed with partners and shareholders.

End the Pain and Drain of Divorce.
Call The Barbknecht Firm, P.C. for a free initial consultation.