Skilled Professional Athlete Divorce Attorney in Los Angeles, CA
Professional athletes have an especially difficult time when navigating a divorce. On top of the emotional and legal complications, there are privacy concerns, high-value assets to address, and other issues in the process, while also navigating a high-stress career. It can help to work with a Los Angeles professional athlete divorce lawyer to protect your financial interests, your personal life, and your family.
Hire a Professional Athlete Divorce Lawyer at Kramer & Zitser, LLP
Kramer & Zitser, LLP is a firm with two senior attorneys with over 50 collective years of experience primarily in family law. Our Los Angeles family lawyers are dedicated to your interests, including protecting your privacy, your financial interests, and your other goals during the divorce process. We have experience handling many complex divorces with high-value assets and complex income circumstances, including professional resources to manage these cases.
Our team uses tools like secure communication channels, nondisclosure agreements, sealed records, and general discretion to minimize publicity and protect you and your family during this highly personal time. We can represent you in mediation or negotiation of your divorce decree in private. If your case needs to be handled in court, we can help you assess your options for privacy in courts like the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles.
What Makes a Professional Athlete Divorce Different in Los Angeles?
Many people get divorced throughout Los Angeles and California. California had a divorce rate of 5.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 and older, compared to the U.S. rate of 7.1, as of the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics in 2022. In Los Angeles, 9.4% of women and 6.6% of men were divorced, while 2.0% of men and 2.4% of women were separated, according to Bureau statistics in 2024.
However, there are unique elements in professional athlete divorces that are not present in the average divorce, including asset considerations, tax implications, privacy concerns, and flexible child custody arrangements.
Complex Income and Asset Issues
There are many unique asset and income issues in professional athlete divorces:
- High-value assets. Professional athletes often have high-value assets like significant real estate, luxury property, investments, and more. High-value assets can make a divorce more contentious. Marital assets need to be divided in a divorce, while separate assets are kept by the spouse who owns them. With such high-value assets, it is very important that assets are accurately valued and categorized as separate or marital property.
- Unique income. Professional athletes may be paid seasonally, paid under specific contracts, and have significant income in retirement benefits. You may also receive other income through endorsements, sponsorships, and appearances. These sources of income should be valued accurately for determinations like spousal support and child support. These valuations also have to consider the shorter career terms professional athletes usually see.
- Taxes. Splitting certain types of marital property can have tax implications, and those can often be significant when the asset is high-valued. Tax consequences must be considered when dividing assets to minimize financial consequences.
Protecting Privacy in Divorce
Professional athletes are often in the public eye, and a divorce can create a lot of publicity. It’s crucial that privacy is carefully protected during the process. Often, it’s ideal to resolve these divorces through out-of-court methods like mediation. This gives couples more control over the results of the divorce while also keeping it private. If the case needs to go to court, then there may be options for private judging and sealed records when the case is complete.
Why Do Professional Athletes Need an Attorney?
It’s important to hire a professional athlete divorce lawyer for this process for many reasons. This is a complex process, and it’s important to get legal guidance and support. You also want that legal representation to understand your unique situation and priorities as a professional athlete. The right attorney can help with several aspects of the divorce tailored to your goals, such as:
- Protecting your privacy throughout the process
- Working for mediation out-of-court to protect privacy
- Requesting accommodations like private judging and sealed records to protect privacy during in-court decisions
- Using nondisclosure agreements to further protect privacy
- Assessing your complex assets and using professional resources to categorize assets as marital or separate property
- Determining the value of these complex assets and your income
- Using this information to advocate for fair division of property, spousal support determination, and child support determinations
FAQs
What Makes Divorce Different for Professional Athletes?
There are many things that make a divorce different for professional athletes, including complex income streams and how that impacts the division of assets. Athletes are paid in different ways and need to consider seasonal income, brand deals, contracts, and other income types, as well as unique assets like intellectual property rights.
Professional athletes also have to worry about privacy during the divorce and consider ways to keep the specifics of the divorce discreet.
What Assets Cannot Be Split in a Divorce in California?
Separate assets cannot be split in a divorce in California. Marital property is split between spouses, while each keeps their own separate property. Separate property includes debts and assets you had prior to your marriage, as well as any gifts or inheritance given only to you during the marriage. Property from after the date of separation is also separate.
What Is the Six-Month Rule for Divorce in California?
The six-month rule for divorce in California refers to the six-month waiting period that is required before the court grants and finalizes the dissolution. It starts the day the summons is served or the date the respondent appears, whichever date comes first. While this is a minimum waiting period, many divorces last longer, especially those with complex and high-value assets.
What Are the Three C’s of Divorce?
The three C’s of divorce are generally considered to be compromise, cooperation, and communication. These apply most effectively to divorces where spouses are negotiating their divorce through mediation or other methods. Communication and cooperation throughout negotiation are crucial for a successful process, as otherwise there is no reason to try to mediate the divorce. Spouses also should be willing to compromise to reach a resolution.
Navigating Your Divorce With a Los Angeles Professional Athlete Divorce Attorney
Reach out to Kramer & Zitser, LLP, today.
