3 marital assets that may require careful valuation before divorce
Under community property laws in California, spouses usually need to divide whatever they accumulated during a marriage if they divorce unless they agree to other arrangements. Regardless of who earned more money or whose name is on the ownership paperwork for assets, both spouses may have an interest in what either spouse earned or acquired during the marriage.
Securing a fair portion of the marital estate in a California divorce requires that someone know the full extent of the marital estate. Generally, someone needs to identify what assets belong to the marital estate. They may also need to determine what those assets are currently worth.
Individuals preparing for divorce in California may even want to work with professionals to obtain an accurate valuation of certain assets to ensure an appropriate property division outcome. For example, the following assets often require special attention and careful valuation during divorce proceedings.
A family home
Married couples sometimes commit as much as 30% of their monthly income toward mortgage payments. The longer the marriage lasted and the more years people have lived in the home, the greater the amount of equity they may have accrued. Price appreciation is also an important consideration. Obtaining an appraisal is often important before a divorce, as the value of the home may have shifted substantially since the spouses first purchased it.
A small business or professional practice
Perhaps one spouse has a license to work as a professional accountant and runs a small professional practice handling payroll matters and income tax filings. Maybe the spouses started a small retail shop together. A business owned jointly by the spouses or even held by one spouse is likely at least partially marital property. Spouses may need to negotiate to determine an appropriate valuation and to establish how much of the business or practice is marital property and how much might be separate property.
Prestige items
Perhaps one spouse has an affinity for designer handbags and has accumulated dozens of them during the marriage. Maybe one spouse has a hobby of rebuilding classic cars. While the other spouse may have no interest in claiming someone’s art collection or wardrobe, high-value personal property can still be part of the marital estate. Determining what someone’s collection or tools are worth can be important for the fairness of the final property division settlement.
Those who have an accurate understanding of what assets in the marital estate are worth may have an easier time when negotiating property division matters with their spouses. As such, taking the time to properly value marital property can be an important step during a high-asset California divorce.
