7 Strategies to Support Positive Outcomes in High-Asset Alimony Cases

Divorce can be a stressful and complex proceeding, especially when you consider factors such as child support, alimony, and other financial topics. As you navigate the end of a marriage, you may be worried about issues such as your financial future or generational asset protection. This is true whether you’re the one who will receive alimony or pay it, and in either case, you may want to ensure you’re doing everything you can to protect your rights and interests.

A strong legal strategy during divorce can help you support a positive outcome when dealing with high-asset alimony issues.

1. Proactively Assessing Assets and Income

A strong strategy tends to be an informed one, and when you’re dealing with financial and legal issues before, during, and after a divorce, having the right facts can be critical to success. Whether you’re in a trying legal battle over support payments or cooperating with your spouse or ex to come to an agreement you can both live with, make sure you have an appropriate understanding of assets and income. A family law attorney can help you understand how these factors relate to your scenario and what assets may not be relevant to your marriage and alimony case.

2. Set Clear Goals for Financial Security

When divorce cases are especially emotionally charged, individuals can fall into treating financial matters as a way to punish each other.

However, it’s important to try to remain level-headed so you can consider your own future needs and set clear and appropriate financial goals. Your objective in securing alimony should be to ensure your own financial security, for example. On the other hand, your goal in limiting how much alimony you pay should be about protecting your financial security and interests rather than keeping the other party from experiencing security or peace.

3. Understand the Role of Related Agreements

Ensure you have a good understanding of how any other agreements may impact alimony. For example, a premarital or post-marital contract may set out specific requirements for alimony. If that is the case, you may need to abide by those agreements or demonstrate that the other party did not live up to their side of the contract.

4. Consider the Implications of Taxes

Consider talking to a CPA or other tax professional to understand how alimony might impact your tax burden, if at all. This can be a complex issue, as some alimony payments may need to be reported or might be deductible while others are not, as it depends in part on when the divorce agreement occurred and other details.

5. Explore Various Negotiation Strategies

Negotiation tactics can be critical to success in alimony cases, especially when dealing with high incomes and assets. In some cases, it’s less about seeking baseline support and more about a desire to ensure comfort or lifestyle. You may be able to negotiate a reduced future alimony payment by allowing the other party to keep a specific home, for example, because it is the home that provides them with the lifestyle and comfort they seek. Seeking to understand the motivation and needs of the other party can be helpful when working through such negotiations.

6. Hire Forensic Accountants

If you believe the other party is hiding assets or not being forthcoming about incomes and other details critical to the alimony discussion, you might consider bringing in a forensic accountant. These professionals can review financial statements and other paperwork to help uncover the real story about assets—details that may be critical in proving your case for or against alimony payments in court.

7. Leverage Mediation Services

Not everyone wants to bring an alimony case to court. Court cases can be expensive and drawn out, leaving both people with unresolved matters and unable to move on with life. They are also public, which is not an ideal situation for many people who want to keep their financial matters more private.

If you want to work through alimony considerations without taking the matter to court, you might consider leveraging mediation services. With this option, you both agree to sit down with an unbiased third party who can help you make decisions together about alimony. Depending on how you structure this step, it may be unbinding, which means you can take the matter to court later if mediation doesn’t work.

Work With an Attorney Experienced in Alimony Cases

Divorce is a complex process, especially when support payments like alimony are a consideration. Working with the right professionals throughout the process can support your chances of a more satisfactory outcome. In an alimony case, a family law attorney can help you understand your options, protect your assets, and create a strategy for ensuring your interests are protected throughout negotiations and any potential court proceedings.

If you are considering divorce, dealing with an alimony situation, or wondering if it’s possible to modify alimony payments you’re already making, reach out to a family law team today to get some answers. You can call the Law Office of Patrick O’Kennedy at 714-701-6356 today to make an appointment.