Dividing property during a divorce can become significantly more complicated when spouses own substantial wealth, multiple businesses, investments, real estate, or other valuable assets. Identifying, valuing, and dividing these assets requires careful review to ensure that both spouses’ financial interests are properly considered.

A high-net-worth divorce often involves assets that are difficult to value or separate, such as privately held businesses, stock options, investment portfolios, trusts, and international property. The process may also involve tracing separate property, uncovering hidden assets, and determining whether certain assets should be considered marital or nonmarital under applicable law.

Identifying Marital and Separate Property

The first step in dividing complex assets is determining which property belongs to the marital estate. Generally, marital property includes assets acquired during the marriage, while separate property may include assets owned before the marriage or received individually through certain gifts or inheritances.

However, the classification is not always straightforward. Separate assets may become mixed with marital funds, increase in value during the marriage, or be used for joint purposes, creating disputes over whether a spouse has a claim to some portion of the asset.

Valuing Privately Held Businesses

Business ownership can be one of the most challenging issues in a high-asset divorce. A privately held company may require a professional valuation that considers revenue, assets, debts, intellectual property, goodwill, and future earning potential.

The value of a business may also depend on the owner’s role in its operations. If one spouse founded or managed the company while the other contributed financially or supported the household, the court may need to determine how the business’s value should be treated under the applicable property division laws.

Dividing Investment Accounts and Stock

High-net-worth couples often have extensive investment portfolios that may include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, private equity, and other financial instruments. These assets must be identified and valued, and the parties may need to account for market fluctuations during the divorce process.

Stock options and restricted stock can be particularly complicated because their value may depend on future vesting dates or employment conditions. The timing of when the assets were earned and whether they were acquired before or during the marriage may affect how they are classified and divided.

Handling Real Estate and Luxury Property

Real estate holdings can include primary residences, vacation homes, rental properties, commercial buildings, and undeveloped land. Each property may have different ownership structures, mortgages, tax considerations, and valuation issues.

A court may award a particular property to one spouse while offsetting its value with other marital assets. Alternatively, spouses may sell the property and divide the proceeds according to their agreed terms or a court’s order.

Consider Trusts and Other Financial Structures

Trusts can complicate the division of marital assets because the spouse may not directly own the property held in the trust. The terms of the trust, the identity of the beneficiary, and when and how the trust was established may all affect whether the assets are considered part of the marital estate.

Federal law can also become relevant when retirement benefits and qualified plans are divided. Under 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3), certain retirement plan benefits may be assigned to an alternate payee through a qualified domestic relations order, commonly known as a QDRO, subject to applicable requirements.

Understand State Property Division Laws

The rules for dividing marital property vary significantly between states. For example, Texas follows community property principles, and Texas Family Code § 7.001 requires courts to divide a community estate in a manner that is considered just and right, while taking into account the rights of each spouse and any children of the marriage.

This means complex assets are not necessarily divided equally down the middle. Courts may consider various factors when determining how community property should be divided.

Look for Hidden or Undisclosed Assets

Significant wealth can sometimes involve complex financial arrangements that make it difficult to identify the full value of an estate. One spouse may attempt to conceal income, transfer assets, undervalue a business, or move property into accounts that are difficult to trace.

Financial records, tax returns, bank statements, investment documents, and business records may help uncover undisclosed assets. In particularly complex cases, forensic accountants and financial experts may assist attorneys in tracing transactions and determining the true value of the marital estate.

Key Takeaways

• High-net-worth divorces often involve complex assets that require specialized valuation and financial analysis.
• Determining whether an asset is marital or separate is an important first step in property division.
• Privately held businesses may require professional valuation to determine their fair market value.
• Stock options, restricted stock, investments, and retirement accounts can involve complicated division rules.
• Trusts and other financial structures should be carefully reviewed to determine whether and how they may affect the marital estate.
• State laws determine how marital property is classified and divided during divorce.
• Forensic accountants and financial professionals may help identify hidden assets and trace complex transactions.

Working with experienced legal and financial professionals can help protect financial interests during a high-ne

Warrants are important documents that are signed by judges and allow law enforcement to make arrests, search property, or hold people. For these reasons, knowing if someone has one is important, especially if you plan on hiring them or getting to know them.

The good news? Learning how to find out if someone has a warrant has never been easier. In this guide, we take you through everything you need to know about the process and offer some of the best tools and methods for the job.

Read on to learn more below.

What is a Warrant?

First and foremost, it does help to know what a warrant is before you start your search. We’re sure that you’re familiar with the common ones, like an arrest warrant, but there are more types of warrants out there.

That said, warrants tend to be arrest records or criminal records that dictate how law enforcement can pursue someone. For example, search warrants allow law enforcement to search homes, whereas arrest warrants allow law enforcement to make arrests.

There are also bench warrants that are issued when someone doesn’t show up to court, along with more niche options.

It’s also important to note that judges need to sign off on warrants for them to go into effect, or magistrates can also sign them.

Are Warrants Public Record?

If you want to find out if someone has a warrant, you first need to know if this is something that’s possible. Luckily, you shouldn’t have any issues with this process because most warrants are public records.

The only time this changes is if someone has their record expunged. What’s more, some warrants may not be available to the public if they impact an active investigation.

How to Find Out if Someone Has a Warrant in Three Different Ways

To find out if someone has a warrant, you have a few options. These options vary based on your needs and the status of the warrant, along with how high-profile a case is. Learn more about the best options below.

1. CheckPeople

The best way to find out if someone has a warrant is to leverage CheckPeople’s arrest records search tool. Simply enter their information into the search tool and then wait for the report to populate. This should only take a few minutes, although you may need to provide additional context along the way.

Within the full report, CheckPeople will help you determine if someone has a warrant out for their arrest. You can also find past warrants and other arrest records with CheckPeople, along with criminal records, public court records, and much more.

2. Check with the Court Clerk

Since a judge or magistrate has to sign a warrant in order for it to go into effect, you can usually find information about warrants from court clerks. Therefore, we recommend checking with these courts to learn more about any active warrants. Sometimes, this can be done online, but you may have to make the trip in person.

If you don’t want to worry about bouncing around to different courts or going to the wrong ones, the good news is that CheckPeople can help you find the right court from the beginning. Then, you can check online or make the trip.

3. Contact Local Law Enforcement

Last but not least, you can contact local law enforcement. If someone has a warrant out for their arrest, there’s a good chance that law enforcement will know about it. Therefore, you can reach out to the local law enforcement organization that’s responsible for the arrest to determine if a warrant was issued.

Again, if you don’t know which agency is responsible, we recommend using a tool like CheckPeople to figure that out sooner rather than later. This way, you don’t have to worry about going to different police stations or sheriff’s offices only to end up empty-handed.

Our Final Thoughts on How to Find Out if Someone Has a Warrant

At the end of the discussion, learning how to find out if someone has a warrant has never been easier. That said, it’s important to leverage the right tools. If you use the wrong ones, well, you can end up wasting a lot of time. In fact, you may even end up wasting your money as well.

Thankfully, you can always leverage CheckPeople to find information about warrants, criminal records, and much more.