Newton Family Law Blog

There are many reasons to collect artwork. Whether art is your passion, you enjoy collecting interesting pieces or you are planning for the future, you and your spouse may have assembled a notable collection during your marriage. If you are heading for divorce court, though, you likely have to think about what happens to your art during your high-asset divorce. 

In New Jersey, judges use an equitable standard when deciding how to distribute marital property. As such, the judge in your matter has jurisdiction to determine how to deal with the artwork that jointly belongs to you and your spouse. Whether you plan to sell the art and split the proceeds or keep it and pay your spouse a fair share of the income, you must know how much your artwork is worth. 

Chances are, you did not enter into a New Jersey marriage thinking that it would one day come to an end, but regrettably, many American marriages ultimately end in divorce. If you count yourself among those who sacrificed your career or education so that your spouse can pursue his or hers, or if you have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle during your marriage, you may have cause to seek alimony.

So, how can you determine whether you might be able to get alimony in your New Jersey divorce?

Many people know that divorce has an impact on wealth, but some high asset couples may not realize how much of an impact it can have on retirement. Though the laws of equitable distribution reign supreme in New Jersey divorce cases, when it comes to retirement accounts, the rules on how to split them are not as cut and dried. Some retirement accounts have different parameters that can affect the outcome of a divorce settlement. 

Careful consideration of personal and spouse retirement accounts during the divorce process can help to minimize a variety of issues that can create additional financial and tax complications after the ink is dry on the settlement. 

In high-asset divorce cases, it is probably human nature for spouses to suspect each other of not being completely upfront about assets. This can be the case when one spouse is financially sophisticated and handles the couple's assets while the other spouse isn't well-versed in financial affairs.

If the divorce is acrimonious, it can be particularly tempting for an angry spouse to squirrel away funds, a process that may have begun long before the other spouse began to suspect the marriage was in trouble.