Texas Attorneys Experienced in Marital Property Division
Many divorce lawyers can accomplish divorces involving small estates, but few lawyers have the experience and knowledge to successfully handle complex property issues involving large estates. The attorneys of Gregory Family Law can help clients with complex divorce property settlements, even putting together a team with expertise in personal finance, wealth management, taxation and business valuation.
Just a few types of assets that come into play during complex divorce proceedings, include:
- Real estate, residential, commercial, farm and ranch
- Oil and gas royalties and other mineral interests
- Employer benefits and retirement plans
- Stock options
- Inheritance
- Separate property characterization and tracing
- Deferred compensation plans
- Economic contribution and reimbursement claims
- Insurance issues
- Intellectual property issues, copyrights and patents
The Importance of Property Characterization
Both Mike Gregory and Alyson Gregory Richter are very familiar with property characterization, in which property is designated as either community property or separate property. Texas has two general categories of property: community property and separate property. Separate property is property acquired prior to marriage, or during marriage by gift, inheritance, or from personal injury recovery. Community property is all property acquired during the marriage except separate property. The only property that a court can divide at the time of divorce is community property. Under Texas law, a court shall order a division of the community assets and liabilities in a manner that the court deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage.
All property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of marriage is presumed to be community property. If a party has separate property, that party has the burden of proof, by clear and convincing evidence, to establish that a particular item of property is separate property, not community property. Once property is established as separate property, the court will confirm the separate property to the owner of that separate property, and it is not subject to division in the divorce.
Denton family lawyers Mike Gregory and Alyson Gregory Richter have successfully rebutted the community property presumption and have established separate property characterization and tracing for their clients on many occasions. They have years of experience in characterization and tracing of separate property assets.
Attorney Mike Gregory is widely recognized as an authority on property characterization matters. He has written several papers on tracing the character of property, which have been used as course material in several law schools. He receives many attorney referrals from lawyers in Denton, Collin, Tarrant and Dallas Counties. He has been Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since December 1976.
Contact the Firm
The lawyers of Gregory Family Law are determined to reach client goals and protect client confidentiality. Visit the contact page to set up an appointment. You can also call 940-387-1600 or 972-434-3828.
