Many people wonder: How long does a high-net-worth divorce take in Austin? High-net-worth divorces in Austin take longer than most people think. The main reasons are asset discovery, analysis, and valuation. If your divorce involves investments or business interests, expect delays. The more money and property involved in your divorce, the more time you should plan on allowing your high-net-worth divorce attorney to sort everything out.
Complex Assets
Complex assets lengthen divorce cases. Business valuations take time and may require forensic accountants to review issues related to cash flow, goodwill, and executive compensation. Multiple properties lead to appraisal disputes and require market evaluations for deciding between selling and retaining assets. Investment accounts might need to be traced through decades of transactions to determine what is community vs separate.
Additionally, technically, a divorce cannot be finalized until 60 days have elapsed, according to Texas Family Code § 6.702, so this is the absolute minimum time a divorce can take in Texas. However, high-net-worth divorces typically take much longer.
Children
The CDC reports that Texas has a divorce rate of 2.1 and a fertility rate of 60.6 births per 1,000 for women between the ages of 15 and 44, highlighting the significance of making appropriate and healthy child custody decisions. Furthermore, according to the 2023 CPS-CSS, around one in four children under 21 lived with only one parent in 2022, with the other parent residing outside the home.
Children obviously complicate any divorce, even when both parents are wealthy and financially savvy. Disagreements about who has conservatorship, geographic limitations, and parenting schedules must be resolved before divorce is finalized. Judges take children’s best interests very seriously, so they will take however much time is necessary to reach a resolution.
Litigation vs. Settlement
High-net-worth divorces settle faster than cases that go to trial. If you and your spouse are able to negotiate without court intervention, you may be able to finalize your divorce within a few months. Cases that proceed to trial typically take a lot longer.
Most Austin high-net-worth divorces are filed in the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility at 1700 Guadalupe Street, Austin, TX 78701. Multiple judges hear high-asset divorce cases in this building every day. The timeline for your case will be affected by multiple factors, including the judge’s availability and discovery issues.
Hire a Divorce Lawyer
As you might have guessed based on the heading, early is better. Waiting too long to hire a divorce lawyer often results in prolonged case discovery. Clients who allow their assets to be manipulated, removed from financial statements, or otherwise hidden before securing counsel often face longer divorces.
About the Law Office of Ben Carrasco, PLLC
At the Law Office of Ben Carrasco, PLLC, we pride ourselves on aggressive representation in high-net-worth divorce and high-conflict custody cases. Ben Carrasco is a Board Certified Family Law Specialist and Stanford graduate who personally handles every case from start to finish. Our clients receive trial-ready planning from day one.
If you are going through a high net worth divorce in Austin, the Law Office of Ben Carrasco, PLLC can help you in your divorce case. Contact us today to get started.
