Top divorce lawyers who handle Greenwich cases know all too well that the division of personal property can end up being the most emotional part of the case. It seems incomprehensible that divorces where a party is a high earning hedge fund or private equity professional devolve over who keeps what art, furniture, antiques, and yes…in some cases, pots and pans!
Experienced lawyers, who practice in Greenwich, know that the battle is really not so much about these material possessions, but rather a vindictiveness resulting from unresolved marital discord or an inability to let go of the marriage, even if it was a bad one.
Courts loathe to waste precious time assigning personal property for obvious reasons. Arbitration for determining who gets what is sometimes used as a last resort when all other attempts to work out personal property fail. Typically, this involves the parties employing a neutral person, often another attorney, to break the logjam.
At Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC, we work very hard to resolve every aspect of the divorce cases we handle, including the often contentious division of personal property. If the parties are unable to work it out on their own, we employ various mechanisms for doing so. This might include an alternate pick format, whereby the parties flip a coin with the winner getting first choice, the loser getting the next two, and the parties alternating picks one by one thereafter. Another scenario involves one of the parties creating two lists of items that are roughly equal in value: an “A” list and a “B” list. Then the other party gets to choose which list of items he or she wants to keep.
Typically, when it comes to family heirlooms, the party from whose family the heirloom was derived, gifted or bequeathed, gets to keep that item. With regard to items of high or unique value, such as art, antiques, oriental rugs and wine collections, an experienced appraiser may be called upon to price these items.
It seems ironic that many Greenwich hedge fund and private equity people who handle sophisticated and complex negotiations for a living are sometimes unable at the end of their divorce to work out personal property issues. We at Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC do our very best to assist in the process in a cost effective and compassionate manner, recognizing that inability to amicably divide pots and pans is often just a symptom of the pain that a marriage is ending.
Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC is the largest family law office in Connecticut, with a focus on divorce, custody, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and enforcement or modification of orders. We handle cases throughout the state, with the highest concentration in Westport, Greenwich and surrounding Fairfield County towns. We represent a wide range of clients including high income and high net worth individuals in the hedge fund and private equity sectors, where complex compensation structures and asset holdings require particular expertise. In all our cases where children are involved, we make issues of custody and parenting time paramount in our representation. In addition to being highly experienced lawyers with proven results, our hallmark is the attention we give to each of our clients. Additionally, whether a case requires aggressive litigation or a mediated solution, we always exhibit an abiding compassion for the people we represent and their families, recognizing that our mission is to assist them through a very difficult, life changing event. More on Divorce
