Like everyone else, most high-asset divorcees focus on significant assets, such as real estate, savings, businesses and personal property during the divorce process. However, many high-asset divorces also involve unconventional assets that also need to be equitably split.
These tips can help you deal with dividing unconventional assets as part of your divorce.
High-value gifts
Whether it be gifts from business associates, clients or friends and family, high-asset couples may accumulate many valuable gifts over their marriage. You can use a postnuptial agreement to specify how you want to divide gifts if you divorce.
Artwork and other collectibles
Obviously, you cannot each claim half a painting. If you want to retain your collection, your best option may be to negotiate with your spouse through mediation or another means. If you cannot reach an agreement about who gets to keep what, the court may order you to sell the artwork and split the proceeds.
Intellectual property
If you or your spouse own a business, you may have the rights to income-generating intellectual property. If that property began earning income during your marriage, the state may consider it marital property even if your spouse did not contribute anything to the business.
Because unconventional property often cannot be physically divided, either you and your spouse or the court may need to substitute some other property of equal value to avoid forcing a sale of the property. In most cases, it is better to negotiate a settlement with your spouse rather than leave it up to the court to decide.