When people become involved in a California high asset divorce, many of these cases involve a business ownership interest and how it should be valued when it comes time to dissolve the marital estate under California’s community property rules.  These business valuations can be extremely complicated, and there are several generally accepted methods that can be used to derive a value for the business at issue so that a specific amount can be applied to the estate before properly division.  A recent case involved a controversy and an appeal regarding the appropriate business valuation method to use.

This case involved a husband who owned an 80 percent interest in a radiology software company at the beginning of the marriage at issue in 1995.  The expert working for the husband used the calculation of value method and applied it to the company that eventually sold three years later for a total of $7.5 million.  The husband’s expert offered a variety of reasons for choosing this method, including the availability of data regarding comparable sales within a measurable period of time.

The court initially agreed with the expert’s method but ordered the experts working for both parties to search for better comp methods.  At the next hearing, the husband’s expert stated that numerous searches had been done, but that no other reliable data could be recovered.  The wife appealed, but the appeals court affirmed the lower court’s acceptance of the initial method and the resulting valuation of $6.25 million.

San Diego High Asset Divorce Lawyers

Clearly, these high asset divorce matters can quickly become extremely technical and nearly impossible for anyone who does not have an extensive financial accounting background to understand.  Mistakes that are made during this step in the property division process can be costly for many of the people involved.

If you are facing this type of situation, you need to act immediately to protect your legal rights and your ownership interests.  Seek the help of San Diego high asset divorce lawyers who have helped many people in this position achieve equitable results.  Contact the law office of James D. Scott today to schedule an initial consultation.