Medical professionals facing a divorce can find themselves asking, “What are some challenges for medical professionals during a divorce in California?” Due to their long hours and high-stress environment, divorce often comes with logistical complications. A California divorce attorney experienced in divorce cases can manage these difficulties on your behalf.
Hire a Divorce Lawyer
With over 50 years of combined legal experience, the senior attorneys at Kramer & Zitser, LLP, are well-versed in California divorce laws. This can be crucial for medical professionals, who simply don’t have time to navigate divorce alone. Their jobs are often very stressful, with staffing shortages being commonplace.
The experienced attorneys at Kramer & Zitser, LLP, understand this pressure, and we can represent your interests, even if you can’t be there.
The Challenges California Medical Professionals Face During Divorce
In 2023, there were only 834,500 physicians and surgeons employed in the United States, compared to a 2023 national population of 334,233,854 Americans. Physicians often work under extreme pressure, treating patients in pain, managing life-threatening injuries, and delivering heartbreaking news.
Studies in the United States show that about 29% of medical residents experience depression, compared to 8% of nonphysicians. Physicians die by suicide at roughly twice the rate of the general public.
This mental health crisis often affects their personal lives, making divorce common, especially for surgeons. Studies found that 21.3% of surgeons had experienced a divorce, compared with 17.9% of non-surgeon physicians.
Other challenges divorcing medical professionals face include:
High-Value Assets
Medical professionals who are going through a divorce are often dealing with a high-net-worth divorce. Your lawyer can employ financial professionals to consult on your case. They’ll offer financial analysis and appraisals of your assets to ensure their correct valuation. This can make sure the property division is fair.
Student Loans
California Family Code Section 2641 explains how student loans and education costs are handled in a divorce. If community property is used to pay for a spouse’s education, training, or student loans, the other spouse can be reimbursed for those contributions. The reimbursement includes interest, starting from the year the payments were made. Loans taken out for education during the marriage are generally assigned to the spouse who benefited from the education; they are not treated as community debt.
What Will Happen to My California Private Practice During a Divorce?
In California, a private medical practice owned by one or both spouses during a marriage is generally considered community property if it was started or grew in value during the marriage. Even if the practice existed before the marriage, any increase in its value during the marriage may be divided as community property.
How Prenuptial Agreements Can Help
A prenuptial agreement is a contract made between people before they get married, and it takes effect once the marriage starts. Prenups can cover many topics, such as:
- Outlining property ownership for each party
- Property division if the marriage ends
- Life insurance benefits
- Many other financial matters
However, they cannot reduce a child’s right to support. Prenups can make divorce proceedings streamlined for medical professionals.
Ways to Make Divorce Easier for Medical Professionals
While divorce can be lengthy and costly, there are quicker alternatives for medical professionals to consider. Often, couples in California choose to go through arbitration or mediation. In these processes, a neutral third party facilitates communication between both spouses and their legal representation to resolve divorce issues.
If a couple can come to an agreement on their issues, they can avoid court. This can also keep proceedings private. For medical professionals, this quicker option can be highly desirable.
Why Choose Us?
Having to deal with the intricacies of alimony and property division, along with patient care, can create significant stress for medical professionals. Kramer & Zitser, LLP, focuses solely on family law and the complexities of the California legal system. We have the experience and legal skills needed to help you navigate divorce with the least amount of stress possible.
Choose a Trusted California Family Law Firm
At Kramer & Zitser, LLP, we aren’t here to waste your time. When you consult us, you can let us know your needs and desires for your case. We can manage your case and keep you as involved as you want. Contact our office today to learn how we can assist you.
