Complex divorces often involve spouses with significant income and a variety of shared assets. Some families have to address businesses or professional practices. Others may have real estate and investment holdings. Complex divorces may also involve requests for support to maintain a specific standard of living following the divorce. Spouses, therefore, have a lot to argue over in these cases.
People often resign themselves to the idea that a litigated divorce is inevitable when they have complex financial circumstances. However, spouses with more marital resources may actually have more reason than the average household to find a path toward an amicable, uncontested divorce. Why do those preparing for complex divorces often agree to collaborative divorce negotiations or mediation?
Spouses need to retain control over their resources
The more varied and valuable the marital estate becomes, the more importance people may place on having control over the outcome of their property division proceedings. Judges in Massachusetts do their best to establish equitable and fair terms when dividing marital resources and debts between the spouses.
Still, the complexities of a high-asset divorce may make collaboration or mediation the best option for couples. The ability to have total control over the final property division terms can be crucially important for those with complex holdings, including business interests.
Spouses may need to preserve their privacy
From the discovery process that involves disclosure of the marital estate to the courts to the discussions about marital circumstances that could reveal unsavory details, there’s much that may transpire during a litigated divorce that can infringe on a couple’s privacy.
Those in high-profile careers usually prefer not to air their dirty laundry in public, but a contested divorce may force people to do exactly that. Mediation is confidential under Massachusetts state statutes. Collaborative divorce is typically also a confidential process due to attorney-client privilege. Therefore, spouses can more effectively preserve their privacy when they mediate or collaborate with one another instead of litigating divorce matters.
Evaluating every viable approach for a pending Massachusetts divorce may benefit spouses with complex marital estates. Those who need specific property division terms and those worried about privacy may find that mediation or collaborative divorce is a good solution for them.
