You never thought your marriage would go the way it has. You dedicated yourself completely to the relationship and put all of your energy, emotion, and passion into a relationship you thought would last until death carried one or the other of you away. Instead you find yourself on the cusp of a divorce. Anger, frustration, confusion, and fear are the most dominant emotions coursing through your body at the moment. Worry about what comes next, about how you will forge a decent and respectable life of your own once the proceedings have ended is a constant preoccupation. If you and your spouse have accumulated considerable assets during the course of your marriage, then you are part of what is called a high net worth divorce and you must proceed accordingly. The first step is to hire an attorney. Indeed, you should retain legal counsel at the first sign or hint that divorce is imminent. The stakes are high when there are assets and money in abundance and you will need to start planning straightaway if you are to receive an equitable settlement. Let there be no mistake: your partner has already put the wheels in motion to seize as much of the money and property as they can. It is a foregone conclusion that your spouse’s lawyers have a plan to prevent you from getting your fair share of the estate. You must work quickly and effectively to ensure that their scheme never comes to fruition. Being prepared goes a long way toward getting an outcome that is favorable to you in a high net worth divorce. The first thing you must know is what you actually have. When you were married, you may not have paid that much attention to the finances. Now that you are getting divorced you must become intimately familiar with them. There should not be a penny in your estate that you cannot account for. You should also get your assets valued. Do not depend on the information furnished to you by your spouse or their lawyers. You must also watch out for any hidden assets and keep a look out for new loans, lines of credit, or major purchases made by your spouse before the divorce. The court is likely to forbid you from liquidating assets or making major purchases of your own during the proceedings—be prepared for that. In all of these matters, it is essential to have the right lawyer to guide you. All assets accumulated during marriage are divisible. There is nothing too minor or out of the way to be contested. The difference between getting all that you deserve and being left with a pittance of what is rightfully yours is a good lawyer. Attorneys who specialize in high net worth divorce cases are the only ones who possess the knowledge, skill, ability, and experience to get you the settlement you deserve. Such a lawyer will know how to examine, analyze, and evaluate an estate, they will know the specialists to bring in to carry out further investigation if it is needed, they will know how to gather the facts necessary to support your case and employ the relevant parts of law to drive the point home. You should not be made to suffer the indignity of a substantially reduced lifestyle. You should get your fair share of the money, property, and other assets accumulated during the course of your marriage. Hiring the right divorce lawyer will help you do just that.