High Net Worth Divorce FAQ: What San Diego Residents Ask Most

California law sets no dollar threshold for a "high net worth" divorce. The term is practical, not legal. A case usually earns the label when the estate holds assets that need expert analysis to value. Those assets include a closely held business, a brokerage portfolio, deferred compensation (pay earned now but paid later), or several San Diego properties. The difficulty of the estate, more than any single number, is what sets these cases apart.

Separate property is not divided in a California divorce. Under Cal. Fam. Code § 770, separate property includes property owned before marriage and property one spouse received during marriage by gift, bequest, devise, or descent. That last group means gifts and inheritances. It also includes the rents, issues, and profits of those assets. Earnings and acquisitions after the date of separation are generally separate as well. The catch is commingling, which means mixing separate money with marital money. When an inheritance or a premarital account has absorbed community funds, the separate share generally survives only if it can be traced through records. Without that tracing, the community presumption in § 760 tends to control.

A spouse has no claim to the other spouse's separate property. Whether an asset is separate turns on three things. The first is character: is it community or separate? The second is timing: when was it acquired compared with the date of marriage and the date of separation? The third is paper: what records show where the money came from? A valid prenuptial agreement can also define what stays separate. Changing an asset's character during marriage is called transmutation. Under California law, it generally requires a written agreement in which the affected spouse clearly states that the ownership is changing. A casual conversation or a retitled account usually is not enough.

Community property is divided equally. Cal. Fam. Code § 2550 requires the court to divide the community estate equally unless the parties agree otherwise in writing or on the record in court, or unless another provision of the Family Code applies. "Equal" means equal in value, not a split of every asset down the middle. Many San Diego cases use an offset. One spouse keeps the business, and the other receives matching value in real estate, investment accounts, or an equalizing payment. Getting the values right is usually the most contested step.

A business is usually valued by a forensic CPA or business appraiser using a recognized method. Common methods include capitalizing earnings, discounted cash flow (today's value of projected future profits), or an asset-based approach. The analysis also asks how much of the value comes from personal goodwill that follows the owner and how much comes from goodwill that belongs to the enterprise. It also looks at retained earnings, meaning profits kept in the company instead of paid out. If the business existed before the marriage, a separate apportionment decides how much of its growth belongs to the community. In San Diego Superior Court, each side often presents its own expert, and the gap between the two valuations can be wide.

The "10-10-10 rule" is not a California rule. It is shorthand for a provision of the federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act. Under that provision, a former spouse can receive a share of military retired pay directly from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service only if the marriage lasted at least 10 years while overlapping with 10 years of military service. The rule controls how the share is paid, not whether it can be divided. A California court can divide a military pension earned during marriage even when the overlap is shorter.

Stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) are community property to the extent they pay for work done during the marriage. RSUs are shares an employer grants that vest over time. Courts often apply a time rule, sometimes called the Hug or Nelson formula. It sets the community share by comparing the part of the grant-to-vest period that fell inside the marriage with the whole period. Awards that are still unvested at separation need a close reading of the grant agreement and the vesting schedule. This matters most for tech and biotech executives in San Diego with refresh grants stacked across several years.

The date of separation marks the point after which earnings and acquisitions are generally separate property. California defines it as the date one spouse both intended to end the marriage and acted in a way consistent with that intent. In a complex estate, a few weeks either way can decide whether a year-end bonus, an RSU vesting event, or a property's rise in value belongs to the community. For that reason, the date is often one of the most fought-over facts in the case.

Temporary support while the case is pending is usually set using guideline software that the San Diego Superior Court relies on. Long-term support after judgment is different. It rests on a list of statutory factors in the Family Code, including the marital standard of living, each spouse's earning capacity, the supporting spouse's ability to pay, and the length of the marriage. When income includes bonuses, carried interest, or equity, the standard-of-living analysis tends to be detailed and disputed. Child support follows its own formula, which is covered in our guide to high-income child support.

Yes, a properly executed prenuptial agreement can keep assets separate. California follows the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. Under that Act, the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties, and it must be entered into voluntarily. Courts look closely at whether each side had independent counsel or knowingly waived it, and whether financial disclosure was fair and reasonable. For high-asset couples, a prenup signed under time pressure or without real disclosure of a business or equity plan is the kind most often challenged.

A forensic accountant tests the numbers behind every other answer on this page. The work usually covers four tasks: tracing separate and community funds, valuing businesses and practices, measuring cash flow available for support, and identifying income or assets that were left off the disclosures. In San Diego County high-asset cases, one or both spouses often retain one. Their reports frequently become the factual basis for settlement or trial.

A California divorce cannot become final sooner than six months after the respondent is served or appears in the case, whichever happens first. That rule comes from Cal. Fam. Code § 2339, and the court may extend the period for good cause. Complex estates commonly take a year or more because valuation, disclosure, and settlement terms take time. Cases that go to trial run longer, and current hearing availability in the San Diego Superior Court also affects the calendar.

Yes. Private financial mediation and collaborative divorce are both available, and many high-asset San Diego couples use them alongside or instead of litigation. Whatever the process, the same characterization, valuation, and tracing questions still have to be answered before a settlement holds up. Mediation as a process is covered by a separate resource. This site focuses on the financial substance.

The documents that tend to be most useful at a first meeting are:

• personal and business tax returns
• pay stubs and W-2s
• brokerage and retirement statements
• deeds and mortgage statements
• business financial statements
• stock option and RSU grant agreements
• any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement

A fuller picture allows a more specific first analysis. It also helps catch the items covered in our list of overlooked assets in divorce. The California courts' self-help divorce pages describe the required financial disclosure forms.