Divorce, no matter how you cut it, is a messy and expensive process. Either it is fiscally expensive, or emotionally expensive (or both). If you came into marriage with money and a comfortable living style, but your husband brought less to the marriage than you did, you are undoubtedly in for a bumpy ride. There are also women who inherit large sums of money, to which your husband may be entitled if you live in a state with marital property laws. Divorce lawyers can help you preserve and keep almost everything that is yours, and here is how.
A Pre-nuptial Agreement
Hopefully you asked your husband to sign a pre-nuptial agreement. This protects all of your assets that you brought to the marriage and returns them to you in the event of a divorce. If you did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement together, then your husband can argue for half of everything you had and have. In divorce cases where the husband is unfaithful or abusive and there is no "pre-nup", your divorce lawyer can argue that you deserve to keep everything, and most courts are inclined to agree.
Keeping an Inheritance
Once married and living in a marital property state like Wisconsin, your husband can sue for half of your inheritance in a divorce. Because your inheritance is counted in your personal assets and conjoined assets, there is no way to separate it without a civil suit on the side. To avoid this painful and unpleasant loss, divorce lawyers recommend that the inheritance be placed in a trust fund for any children born to you. If you are the only co-signer on the trust fund and only you and your children can access your inheritance money, then your husband cannot touch it.
Suing Your Ex When You Already Have Wealth
Unless you are famous, most judges will only entertain divorce cases for alimony and child support if you can prove infidelity, inhumane treatment, abuse and/or cruelty. Even then, it is less about punitive damages and more about equalizing the financial contributions in the marriage and the lack of fiscal equality after divorce. Your lawyer, like those at Allen & Rector, can subpoena financial records, spending records and the like. It is ill-advised to create a high conflict divorce over more money if you are already fiscally comfortable because you may not be awarded any alimony and a judge may decide to give some of your assets to your ex instead.
