The lifestyles of CEOs are typically quite different than other people’s. Usually, CEOs have full schedules and travel frequently for work. By the nature of their high-level position, they lead extremely busy lives. Unfortunately, the hectic CEO lifestyle can lead to trouble at home, and this is no mystery to Boards of Directors.
Representing a CEO during his or her divorce is unique from other clients, and presents special challenges for the divorce lawyer. While every divorce has it’s nuances, high net worth CEOs do have certain things in common, specifically, a lack of free time to devote to the divorce, and difficulty accepting they cannot entirely control the divorce process.
Lack of Time to Devote to Divorce-Related Tasks
Senior executives are in the practice of devoting virtually every waking minute to the companies they run, and they have little time to focus on divorce-related tasks. If a senior executive does not have the time to gather financial records or have a trusted assistant handle such tasks for them, it can pose a challenge.
Typically, the CEO is the spouse who is more knowledgeable about the couple’s finances, and he or she may have easier access to account information than their dependent spouse. Because of this, the burden is placed on the executive to provide such records.
When an executive fails to provide financial records in a timely fashion, their divorce can drag on, but more importantly, unnecessary delays can be questioned by a family court judge and make the judge ponder if the CEO is concealing marital assets, which damages credibility in the long run.
If you are a senior executive or a CEO who is getting a divorce, we want you to be acutely aware that there can be negative consequences if you do not pay enough attention to gathering financial information in an efficient manner, but we’re also here to help.
At Ford & Friedman, we understand that senior executives are extremely busy, and therefore, we are very respectful of your time. We make every effort to help our clients stay organized with their time so the process can be streamlined. To schedule a consultation with a member of our Henderson divorce team, we invite you to contact us today.