Asset Division

Typically one of the most complex areas of the dissolution process is asset division. We break this process into four steps. First, we determine what your needs and intentions are going forward. Second, we determine how a court will characterize your property: either as separate or community property. Third, we value the assets. Fourth, keeping both your needs and the law in mind, then we allocate the assets. This last step can happen either by private agreement, or by a court order.

Our firm has broad experience handling the full range of asset division issues. Whether your matter involves complex trust assets, business partnerships, stock options, or retirement plans, we can effectively represent your interests.

Stock Options

In California, stock options are often part of an employee’s compensation plan.  Unfortunately division of these assets can be quite complex in the divorce context because stock options are often characterized as part “community property” and part “separate property.”  The courts have broad discretion to allocate the community and separate property interests, and Stock options are no exception.

Sometimes, stock options are granted not as part of a compensation package, but as an incentive to keep employees from leaving a company.  In other circumstances, stock options may be granted as a “bonus” that is awarded at the sole discretion of the company.  In these instances the bonus may be considered separate, and not community property because it may not relate to services performed during marriage.  For this reason, it is important to look not only at the grant, vesting, and exercise dates of the options, but also the facts and circumstances surrounding the grant.   Further complicating matters, a company may label it’s stock options “discretionary,” or “incentive based,”  but a court may determine that based on the company’s conduct and the employee’s expectations that the label is inaccurate.

If you or your spouse or registered domestic partner received stock options relating to your employment during marriage, it is important for you to have an experienced family law attorney analyze the facts of your case and explain to you the nuanced variables of allocating community and separate property interests.   An experienced family law attorney will help ensure that you receive your share of the stock option value that you are entitled to.

Next section: Divorce