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  When a couple ends their relationship, it becomes necessary that they apportion their property and any obligations between themselves. Much of the time, determining who gets what is a relatively straightforward matter. For a wide variety of reasons, however, parties to a divorce often find agreement on such issues to be elusive. At the other end of the spectrum, an apparently easy settlement agreement may be fraught with hidden problems, such as unexpected tax ramifications or misunderstood valuation of assets, which, once understood, may render the seemingly fair property division quite inequitable. While parties are free to make any settlement of the marital estate that seems fair to them, under California law each party is entitled to receive an equal share (by value) of the community property accumulated during marriage. "Community property" includes virtually anything of value acquired by dint of the earnings or efforts of the parties while married, such as real estate, personal property, vehicles, bank accounts or other investments, retirement benefits, business interests, royalty payments, and stock options, to name just a few. Assets owned prior to marriage or acquired during the marriage by gift or inheritance are considered the separate property of the owner and not subject to equal division on divorce. It may be that some assets are a combination of community property and separate property. For example, retirement benefits may have been acquired by a combination of community (during marriage) and separate (before marriage or after separation) efforts and contributions. As another example, a home may have been acquired with a combination of community and separate funds. Because life is complicated, the law has developed many rules, and many exceptions to the rules, in an attempt to fairly deal with a variety of commonly recurring situations which affect the valuation and distribution of marital assets. Weiler and Borst specializes in helping our clients through this forest of rules, and in assisting with the negotiation of agreements that are fair to BOTH parties. And where our client is less powerful or does not have equal access to the necessary information about community assets or obligations, we will ensure full discovery and disclosure of relevant facts, and we will aggressively pursue, on behalf of our client, an appropriate division of the community property estate. |
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