USA – OKLAHOMA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Aaron Bundy and Danya Bundy, Bundy Law
trial court to determine that separate property became joint through a transaction during the marriage or that an increase in value of separate property was due to the efforts of one or both spouses. When a spouse owns separate prop - erty, they must take strong, proactive measures to defend their interests and push back against allegations that are not truly supported by fact. A danger for high net worth individuals with sep - arate interests lies in their approach to informa - tion disclosure and co-operation in discovery. Traditional fault-based grounds for divorce (adul - tery) are less common in the modern era. How - ever, when determining property division and spousal support, courts may consider behaviour such as hiding assets, dissipating marital funds, or intentionally devaluing assets to deprive the other spouse. Each party to a lawsuit is legally required to preserve evidence. Concealment or destruction of evidence may lead to adverse inferences and findings that would not have been supported by the information had it been properly preserved and produced by the con - cealing party. Although it may seem distasteful to disclose otherwise private, confidential, and even pro - prietary information about separate interests, transparency can help pre-empt and mitigate claims against the separate estate. A spouse who pleaded ignorance as a basis for claim - ing everything is marital may be dissuaded in negotiations by information production. When settlement talks fail, compliance with pre-trial disclosure and discovery requirements can lead to successful trial outcomes.
If a divorce is imminent or underway, an in spouse will benefit from a team of experienced, qualified professionals who can help identify records and witnesses to establish a timeline and supporting transaction history. Sophisticated legal counsel should be engaged as early in the process as possible in order to develop a comprehensive discovery plan and ensure proper preservation of evidence. The need for highly skilled, compe - tent counsel cannot be overstated. Oklahoma’s trial courts are suffering from a lack of resources – for example, there is an ongoing shortage of court reporters (stenographers). All testimony, judicial comments and decisions made in evi - dentiary hearings and trials should be tran - scribed for proper record-keeping and future reference. Seasoned counsel also understand the need to submit typewritten proposed orders with detailed terminology that will aid in future interpretation of property awards. Taking shortcuts by not ensuring the presence of a stenographer and by relying on vague, sometimes handwritten court orders leads to ambiguities and challenges in interpretation and enforcement months and years after a divorce. Attention to detail is essential, as is incorporat - ing those details into evidentiary presentation and subsequent court orders. Along with trial lawyers, business valuators, economists, prop - erty appraisers and forensic accountants are all critical to the defence of claims against separate property.
477 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook