Real estate is often the biggest investment that people make, and most do not even realize it. Purchasing a home is a significant life step and investment that many California couples are happy to make during their marriage. However, depending on the type of property, its worth and personal feelings, dealing with real estate during a high asset divorce can be quite a task.
Barring unique circumstances such as specific parameters set out by a pre or postnuptial agreement, the family home is usually considered a marital asset. A family home is one in which both spouses lived in during their marriage. Like all marital property, the home will have to be dealt with during property division.
Divorcing couples often opt to have one person keep the home after divorce. If this is not a financially smart decision or if a couple simply cannot agree on who gets to keep the house, it may be sold off and the resulting funds distributed amongst both parties. But what about investment property? What to do may be less clear, although these properties are frequently sold and the profit split.
Whether as a family home or an investment property, real estate is a significant investment of both money and time. It is understandable that both people might have intense emotional attachment to these investments. This can make dealing with property division during a high asset divorce difficult, especially if there is more than one California property at stake. In such cases, working with an experienced attorney to determine value, ownership, taxes and more can be extremely helpful.
