Any divorce is challenging and stressful, but some professional men and fathers face distinctive obstacles during the process. Physicians who are getting divorced must consider a high likelihood of paying alimony and child support, and the possibility of selling their practice, all while working a demanding schedule and spending time with their kids and family. The sooner you identify these challenges, the easier your divorce will be.
Considering Your Medical Practice
All business owners have concerns that their livelihood will be affected by a divorce, but doctors face unique challenges when valuing their practice and determining how to move forward after divorce.
The first step to ensuring your practice doesn’t complicate your division of marital assets is to obtain a valuation. Your men’s divorce law firm in New Jersey should be able to recommend a professional who can assess the real value of your business. Spouses often overestimate how much a practice is really worth, so it’s important that you provide accurate information about how much you could get for the practice if it was sold now and how much value it has long-term. Your practice is just one of many marital assets, so you should be able to retain control of the business if you are willing to let go of other assets.
If you are amicable with your ex, it is possible to co-own the practice or give her some stake in the company. It’s been done before, but I’d caution against it due to the sheer unpredictability of this kind of arrangement. Just because you’re on good terms now, that doesn’t mean you won’t face conflict in the future. If you would like to negotiate an arrangement where you both retain some ownership of the practice, getting a team of attorneys involved is a must.
Demanding and Unconventional Work Schedule
Doctors who work at a hospital or urgent care may be used to working overnights or other unusual shifts. The fact that you work outside of business hours may not even cross your mind most days. When it comes time to divorce, however, your unusual hours may become an impediment to scheduling mediations and appointments with your attorney.
Our doctors’ divorce lawyers for men in NJ consider your busy schedule as much as possible. Your attorney can communicate with you via email or text message if you are unable to take phone calls during the day. We’ll also keep you informed about upcoming hearings far in advance so you can plan to take time off work.
Alimony/Spousal Support Payments
You and your wife may be used to a high standard of living due to your high-paying career. This standard of living must be considered when determining spousal support payments. Don’t assume you’ll be forced to pay spousal support long-term – especially if you haven’t been married for long – but prepare for the possibility that your spouse’s attorney will request spousal maintenance.
Divorce attorneys for male doctors in NJ are used to negotiating every aspect of a physician divorce, including the duration and amount of alimony payments. You don’t have to leave this decision up to a judge; we’ll try to sort out the details in mediation if you’d rather pay a one-time sum or consider other alimony options. If we do end up in court, our NJ divorce lawyers for male medical professionals will help you present evidence that compels the judge to order fair alimony payments.
The Micklin Law Group offers divorce services for doctors in New Jersey. We also help other men and fathers tackle family law challenges like custody cases, alimony, child support, and high-conflict divorce. Contact us to learn more about our services.
