How Does Your Marital Standard of Living Affect Your Divorce in North Carolina?

In general, affluent couples in Monroe experience a slightly different set of concerns when it comes to divorces. Wealthy individuals may have higher net worth, and affluent lifestyles trigger all kinds of additional factors. Issues such as property division often prove to be incredibly contentious, as both spouses understand that millions of dollars are on the line. On the other hand, less wealthy couples have less to worry about, simply because their wealth is less consequential.

Many affluent couples enjoy a high standard of living during their marriage. When the marriage ends, one spouse might be concerned that they will no longer experience this lifestyle. Dependent spouses are given a certain degree of protection by North Carolina judges, who generally try to ensure that both spouses continue to enjoy the same luxuries that they grew accustomed to during the marriage.

While dependent spouses often try to prove that they enjoyed a high high standard of living during the marriage, the spouse who provided the income for this lifestyle often tries to argue the opposite. The underlying motives for both spouses are obvious. But how do you prove that a certain standard of living existed in the first place?

The first step is to enlist the help of a qualified family law attorney in North Carolina. Our experienced North Carolina divorce lawyers can help you prove that you experienced a certain standard of living during your marriage, and we can also assist with virtually every other aspect of your divorce. It is always a good idea to team up with a skilled attorney who has experience in high net worth divorces, especially if you think that proving your marital standard of living will be difficult.

Your marital standard of living can have a considerable impact on many aspects of your divorce, including alimony and child support. Regardless of whether you were the primary income provider or the dependent spouse, you need to establish that a certain standard of living existed during your marriage. A dependent spouse may wish to highlight certain aspects of his or her marital lifestyle in an effort to increase alimony and child support payments.

A spouse who acted as the primary income provider may wish to downplay certain aspects of their lifestyle to minimize alimony and child support payments. This conflict of motives can lead to considerable debate in court, which is why it is important for both parties to rely on strong evidence and experienced attorneys.

There are a number of factors that may be associated with your marital standard of living:

• The size of your family home
• The value of your family home
• Whether your family home is located in a wealthy neighborhood
• Your dining habits (how many times you ate at restaurants, the quality of the restaurants, etc.)
• Membership fees for country clubs, gyms, tennis clubs, etc.
• The frequency of your vacations
• The expenses associated with your vacations
• Your shopping habits
• Any gifts provided to you by your spouse on a regular basis (jewelry, handbags, etc.)
• How much the family spent on entertainment costs
• How much the family spent on hobbies and pastimes
• Whether the child(ren) attended private schools
• Whether the child(ren) participated in expensive hobbies, such as horseback riding
• Whether the child(ren) attended summer camps and engaged in other extra-curricular activities

In order to prove that these factors existed in your marriage, you will need to provide evidence. In some cases, this will be easy. In other cases, you might need to hunt around for receipts and other forms of evidence. It is worth mentioning that the factors involving your children can also impact child support.

If you have been searching Union County for a family law attorney who can help you with this situation, look no further than Arnold & Smith, PLLC. We are experienced in high net worth, high-conflict divorces. You may want to prove that your marital standard of living was much more frugal than your spouse is leading the court to believe. On the other hand, you might want to prove that your standard of living was much more luxurious than your spouse is claiming. Either way, we can help you pursue justice and strive for a positive legal outcome. Make sure that you are ending your marriage in the most efficient way possible, and book a consultation today at our Monroe office.