Tech Divorce Specialist
Tech compensation, venture stakes, real estate — California's community property law requires expertise. This guide shows you exactly what to protect.
Leanne Ozaine, CDFA® & CFP® | Specializing in tech equity divorces
Turn Panic Into Power — $97If you're over 50 and facing divorce in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're likely dealing with financial complexity that most people never encounter. Child custody battles typically aren't your main concern—your children are grown, in college, or launching their own tech careers. Instead, your divorce centers entirely on dividing decades of accumulated wealth, much of it in tech stock compensation that didn't exist in traditional divorces.
This is especially challenging if you've never personally managed the family finances. Perhaps your spouse handled the RSUs, stock options, ESPPs, and 401(k) decisions while you focused on raising children or supporting their career. Now you're facing questions like:
RSUs. Stock options. ESPP. Deferred compensation. You've heard these terms for years. You know they're valuable.
But do you actually understand what they are? Which ones have vested? Which ones vest after separation? What portion is legally community property? How are they taxed when exercised vs. when divided?
Your spouse has lived with these compensation statements for 15 years. They understand vesting schedules, exercise windows, and tax implications.
You're seeing these documents for the first time — while negotiating a settlement that could be worth $1-3 million.
Tech compensation isn't magic. It's complicated — but complicated has solutions. You need someone who can decode the offer letters, translate the vesting schedules, and show you exactly what's yours under California community property law.
The difference between understanding tech equity and not? It can easily be $300,000-$500,000 in your final settlement.
The Bay Area's economy revolves around tech, and tech compensation is heavily stock-based. This creates unique divorce challenges:
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units): These vest over time (typically 4 years). In California community property law, RSUs earned during marriage are community property—even if they haven't vested yet. This creates complex valuation and division issues.
Stock Options: The "time rule" applies to determine what portion is community property. Options granted during marriage but vesting after separation require careful calculation.
ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan): Shares purchased during marriage with discounts are community property, but what about post-separation purchases from payroll deductions set up during marriage?
For those new to managing finances: If your spouse worked at Google, Meta, Apple, Salesforce, or any Bay Area tech company, you need to understand these compensation types. They're often worth more than the salary.
Bay Area real estate is among the most expensive in the nation. Median home prices in Palo Alto, Los Altos, and San Francisco proper exceed $2 million. Homes purchased 20-30 years ago for $500K-$800K are now worth $2M-$4M or more.
Key questions for gray divorce:
For many 50+ divorcing clients, the home represents both the largest asset and the most emotional decision.
The Bay Area has one of the highest costs of living in the United States. This affects divorce planning in several ways:
Spousal support calculations: Can the supported spouse maintain anything close to the marital standard of living on support alone? In the Bay Area, probably not.
Post-divorce housing: Rental markets are equally expensive. One-bedroom apartments in San Francisco and Palo Alto often exceed $3,000/month.
Retirement planning: If you're 50-60 and divorcing, can you afford to retire in the Bay Area? Many of our clients explore relocating to more affordable regions post-divorce.
Bay Area incomes are high, but California's 13.3% top income tax rate (plus federal taxes) means significant tax planning is essential. This affects:
The difference between tax-efficient and tax-inefficient asset division can easily exceed $100,000 for high-asset Bay Area divorces.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we work with clients divorcing after 20, 30, or 40+ years of marriage. Here's what makes gray divorce financially complex in this region:
If your spouse has worked in tech for 20-30 years, you may have accumulated wealth through multiple companies, IPOs, acquisitions, and stock appreciation. Each of these events has different tax treatments and division rules.
Common scenario: Your spouse joined a startup in the 1990s or 2000s, received stock options, the company went public or was acquired, and those options are now worth millions. How much is community property? How do you divide it fairly?
When you're 50, 60, or older, you don't have time to "rebuild" financially. Every asset division decision affects whether you can retire comfortably.
Critical questions:
Many of our Bay Area clients—particularly those who focused on homemaking or supporting a spouse's demanding tech career—have never personally managed stock options, RSUs, or million-dollar investment portfolios.
You're not alone: We help you understand what you have, how it works, and how to manage it going forward. Tech compensation isn't intuitive, but it's learnable.
While our primary focus is gray divorce (50+ with grown or near-grown children), some clients have high school or college-age children. California's child support formula factors in both parents' income and custody time, and Bay Area incomes mean support amounts can be substantial. However, for most 50+ clients, children are financially independent, and divorce planning centers entirely on asset division and retirement security.
As a Bay Area resident, your divorce follows California's strict community property laws. This means:
The Rule of 65: If your age plus years of marriage equals 65 or more, spousal support may continue indefinitely. This is particularly important for Bay Area gray divorces where one spouse supported the other's tech career.
Learn more about California's community property laws →
We provide virtual divorce financial planning services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including:
The 5-step system that shows you what you'll actually live on, so you stop guessing and start knowing.
Calculate your real post-divorce income — including spousal support, assets, and earning potential — so you negotiate from facts, not fear.
Document gathering checklists tell you exactly what to bring to your attorney — so you walk in prepared, not panicked.
Map out your real expenses as a single person — before you fight for something you can't actually maintain.
The asset identification system helps you find accounts and property you might not even know exist.
22-page guide + video tutorials + checklists + templates
$97
Instant access. 100% money-back guarantee.
Get the Clarity You Need — $97Your lawyer handles the legal battle. But lawyers don't know what you'll live on for the next 30 years. Get the financial clarity you need before you sign anything you can't take back.
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