Vancouver International family law divorce lawyers, founder Lorne Maclean, QC handles high stakes cases from his MacLean Law’s headquarters in downtown Vancouver British Columbia. Focusing his MacLean Family Law practice on international divorce and international family law financial matters, MacLean just obtained one of the highest international cross border divorce and interjurisdictional multimillion-dollar property and seven-figure spousal and child support judgments in Canada. MacLean was just interviewed by Bloomberg fresh off his latest high net worth international divorce win.
International Family Law Divorce Lawyers 1 877 602 9900
Lorne MacLean, QC explained to Bloomberg that wealth protection strategies are key to keeping Vancouver international family law divorce lawyers and their client’s matters out of court and maintaining financial and reputational privacy for wealthy individuals:
“A cohabitation agreement needs to be negotiated fairly, said the family lawyer, who works on high-net-worth and complex family law disputes. That means both people need to disclose all their assets, which must be accompanied by a proper valuation, he said, and both parties need to consult separate lawyers.”
Lorne N MacLean, QC has been interviewed on how his team of Vancouver International Family Law Divorce Lawyers handles high net worth cross border divorce disputes and his wins have been the subject of a number of articles in Globe and Mail, National Post, on his victories for his clients in Young V Young in the Supreme Court of Canada, the Vancouver Sun and Province, Business in Vancouver and Bloomberg. MacLean guides high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals through negotiations for wealth protection agreements and was interviewed recently by Bloomberg.
In the Bloomberg article “How wealthy singles can protect their riches from partners looking for a payout”, MacLean is quoted on how to protect high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals’ income and assets. MacLean suggests that high net worth individuals – and often parents of a child who may well inherit millions – focus on obtaining the exclusion of asset and income protection by way of a pre-relationship family law agreement. The plan is to use a fairly negotiated agreement to shield a significant portion of their wealth and income from often presumptive equal sharing of value or gains that they bring in or expect to receive during the relationship before entering into any new relationship.
High Net Worth Property Lawyers 1 877 602 9900
We assist in the preparation of agreements through our team of highly experienced Vancouver International Family Law Divorce lawyers. Marriage and cohabitation agreements govern finances during the relationship and after separation as well as how property brought in, inherited or gifted to one spouse alone during the relationship will be managed and dealt with on separation;
- prenuptial agreements – for those who are entering their first or subsequent marriage;
- postnuptial agreements or marriage agreements – for those who sign an agreement after marriage;
- cohabitation agreements – for those who are starting what may be a committed marriage-like relationship expected to last more than 2 years;
Don’t Delay Contacting Our Senior International Family and Divorce Lawyers 1 877 602 9900
Leaving the preparation for, broaching the discussion with your future spouse, and negotiation of a fair prenuptial agreement can result in no agreement getting signed at all. This means upon separation the stakes in a Vancouver International Family and Divorce are higher as there will be no set plan already agreed to during happier times. Without a binding and fair Vancouver International Family and Divorce agreement, the parties will need to negotiate a separation agreement and failing agreement let a judge decide it after a trial.
Vancouver International Family Law Divorce lawyers explain that complex cross border trials often take more than a year to litigate. The key initial strategy will be to determine what jurisdiction most favours our client financially as well as for child custody purposes. The international and cross border issues are complex and will often involve:
- where the international divorce should be pronounced
- is there a family agreement or marriage contract that sets out a choice of the law that applies and where a family dispute will be decided
- what country and what family law will apply and where was the first habitual or the last habitual residence and what the type of family law regime does each country have;
- forensic audits of worldwide income and family property to find the real value and income of a spouse;
- attribution of income when comparing differing and often more favourable tax rates in jurisdictions outside heavily tax Canada;
- analysis of whether the child and spousal support is tax-deductible outside of Canada;
- analysis of the different bundle of services and costs to earn income outside of Canada;
- family law rules for high net income paying spouses when they earn well above $1 million in relation to the Child Support Guidelines exception for child support;
- rules for the above $350,000 income cap for spousal support when the payor earns well over $1 million per year;
- how are third party created trust beneficial and discretionary trust interests dealt with and what is the level of control of a spouse involved in such a trust;
- how are trusts created by a spouse before and during the relationship dealt with;
- figuring out the different tax, and disposition costs related to various types of assets in different countries including non-resident holdback taxes; for property owned around the world by wealthy spouses who are non-resident;
- challenging the validity of international marriage and family law agreements;
- enforcement of foreign divorce and family law judgments or orders in BC;
- enforcement of BC judgments internationally;
- international custody and child relocation Disputes;
- international child abduction ( Hague and Non-Hague);
- international child or spousal support
- worldwide freezing of assets / international Mareva Injunctions
- choice of forum/jurisdiction (Conflict of Laws/Choice of Law)
If you have questions concerning Vancouver International Family Law Divorce we recommend you meet with our International Family and divorce lawyers who have a proven track record of handling and winning cases involving international family and interjurisdictional divorce disputes.
