California couples who are entering into a divorce have a long road ahead. When your partner is a wealthy person, your divorce can be even more time-consuming as you sift through the various assets that you both share. To ensure that you get your fair share of your marital assets, here are some tips that you’ll want to follow throughout the divorce process.
Get a grip on stock options
While splitting up your house, cars, and checking account may be fairly straightforward, splitting up stock options can be more difficult. When going through a divorce, it’s important to understand the various assets that your partner may hold in a company. Stock options are one popular asset that you should look for.
Stock options are essentially incentives that are provided to employees. A stock option gives the employee the option to buy a set number of stocks at a specific price in the future. The catch is that the employee may not exercise their option until a set period has passed, such as one to five years. These stock options can be extremely valuable and not something you want to forget to include in your divorce settlement.
Know about restricted stock awards
Apart from stock options, businesses may offer employees restricted stock awards. Coined the golden handcuffs, these restricted stock awards also have a required vesting period that must pass before an employee may exercise their option to sell the stock. Just like stock options, restricted stock awards can be highly valuable.
When you decide that it’s time to call it quits with your partner, you’ll need to go through the legal divorce process. When your partner is wealthy, it’s important to look out for hidden assets like stock options and restricted stock awards. This way, you could make efforts to claim your fair share of their value.