Leena Yousefi Wins Case on High Net-Worth Property Division and Imputation of Income
After countless sleepless nights of drafting legal strategies for her client, Leena Yousefi won an important victory in the case of Ad v. Ma, which required deep expertise on complicated property division and successfully had the court impute income to a spouse who was intentionally unemployed.
This precedent-setting case helps to determine the outcome of future cases where financial transparency is a major issue and shows the consequences of acting in bad faith during separation.
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What happened in the case?
The husband was a successful dentist, running two dental practices within the Lower Mainland. The wife was a dental technician.
The two of them shared a daughter, and shared ownership in a variety of different businesses and properties which made the separation of assets particularly difficult.
The Complicated Financial Situation and Property Division
During the separation, the mother quit her job as a dental technician and was training to become a realtor and had zero income, likely to receive a higher amount from the father for living expenses or child support. She claimed to have monthly expenses of $15,000 which the judge thought was suspicious.
Since the separation, the husband had been paying for their child’s private school tuition, along with the mortgage and the wife’s living expenses- totaling over $200,000. He was faced with no choice but to take out significant debts in order to pay this amount.
The mother refused to sign refinancing papers related to their shared business and allegedly spoke to the bank manager and refused to let the father take out the loan he requested. Yet again, the father no choice but to take out additional riskier debts to ensure his dental practice and source of income could continue to stay open, which resulted in an additional $100,000 in interest and fees.
After a thorough investigation, the courts found that the mother was hiding money. She was writing cheques to a fake employee, and depositing them in her US bank account. The hidden money totaled nearly $120,000.
The Successful Outcome
The judge agreed to continue the 50/50 parenting time split that they had previously agreed upon.
Due to the complicated nature of the income for both parties, the judge assigned an income to each party based on what they could actually earn- not what they formally reported.
For the mother, this meant assigning her income to $45,000, which is what she could have been earning if she hadn’t quit her job as a dental technician. For the father, the judge assigned an income of $100,000.
When it came down to property division, the judge ruled that the assets should be divided equally between the mother and father, but due to the father’s additional payments during the separation, he would get a credit for all the payments and efforts that he made. In other words, he wouldn’t have to pay more on top of what he already paid, ensuring an equal share of payments made.
For spousal support, the judge recognized the fact that the wife had chosen to leave her job and bring in zero income, and for that, reduced the period of time that the husband was responsible for covering. The husband had to pay the wife a lump sum of $35,000.
The wife also had to pay additional legal fees for the experts needed to investigate the finances as a consequence for trying to hide money.
What This Case Means for You
If you are thinking about getting a divorce, you have a duty to preserve the family assets. That means no hiding, or strategically moving any assets to foreign countries, or even preventing the other party from making financial moves that protect the assets you share. The in depth investigations that you go through during a divorce will uncover what may be hidden.
Quitting your job in the middle of a separation to lower your reported income is a tactic that rarely works. Judges can put the pieces together and are able to tell the difference between losing a job or being voluntarily unemployed. In case of intentional unemployment, judges can impute income.
If they determine it’s the latter, you will be treated according to what you could have been earning. Ultimately, this strategy often backfires, leaving you with a support order based on a salary that you are no longer earning.
If you are going through a separation with a complex financial background and require extensive knowledge in asset and property division, we have the lawyers to help. Contact us today or call us at 604-974-9529 to ensure that your financial interests are protected and your future is secure.
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. It does not create a lawyer–client relationship with YLaw or any of its lawyers. Laws and policies change, and information here may not reflect the most current legal developments. For full details, please contact us to obtain advice about your specific situation.
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