Corporate & Healthcare Specialist
Healthcare equity, corporate retirement, real estate — Tennessee's equitable distribution requires expertise. This guide shows you exactly what you're entitled to.
Leanne Ozaine, CDFA® & CFP® | Specializing in high-asset divorces
Turn Panic Into Power — $97ASCAP statements. BMI royalties. Publishing splits. HCA stock options. Deferred compensation. You've heard these terms for years. You know they're valuable.
But do you actually understand what they are? Which royalties will continue for decades? What portion of those HCA stock options is legally marital property? How much of that real estate appreciation belongs to you?
Your spouse has lived with these income streams and compensation packages for 15-25 years. They understand vesting schedules, publishing splits, and royalty collection societies.
You're seeing these financial statements for the first time — while negotiating a settlement that could be worth $500,000-$2 million.
Nashville wealth isn't magic. Music royalties, healthcare executive compensation, and real estate holdings are complicated — but complicated has solutions. You need someone who can decode the royalty statements, translate the HCA benefits packages, and show you exactly what's yours under Tennessee law.
The difference between understanding Nashville assets and not? It can easily be $200,000-$400,000 in your final settlement.
If you're over 50 and facing divorce in Williamson County—Tennessee's wealthiest county—child custody battles typically aren't your main concern. Your children are grown, pursuing careers in Nashville's booming economy, or building their own families. Instead, your divorce centers entirely on protecting and dividing decades of accumulated wealth in one of the South's most affluent regions.
This is especially challenging if you've never personally managed the family finances. Perhaps your spouse handled music industry royalties, HCA Healthcare benefits, tech sector stock options, or real estate portfolios while you focused on raising children in Brentwood's excellent schools or supporting their career through Nashville's music and healthcare industry demands. Now you're facing questions like:
Nashville is the global center of country music and a major hub for all genres. Williamson County is home to countless music industry professionals—songwriters, publishers, artists, producers, session musicians, and executives. Gray divorce here often involves dividing music industry income streams that most divorce professionals never encounter.
Key music industry divorce issues:
Valuation complexity: A song earning $5,000/year in royalties might be worth $50,000 using a standard capitalization method. But if that song gets picked up by a major artist, featured in a Super Bowl commercial, or becomes a TikTok trend, its value could multiply tenfold overnight. Properly valuing music industry income requires both industry expertise AND divorce financial planning knowledge.
For those new to music industry finances: Music royalties are ongoing payments you receive when your song is played on the radio, streamed on Spotify, used in movies/TV, or performed live by other artists. Unlike a regular paycheck that stops when you quit your job, royalties can continue for your lifetime—and even pass to your heirs. Understanding performance rights (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC), mechanical royalties, sync licensing, and publishing splits is essential for fair division in divorce.
HCA Healthcare is headquartered in Nashville and is one of the nation's largest healthcare providers. Williamson County is home to thousands of HCA executives, physicians, administrators, and employees. Gray divorce cases involving HCA benefits often include extraordinarily complex compensation packages.
HCA-specific divorce considerations:
Critical timing issue: HCA stock options that vest after divorce may still be marital property if they were granted during marriage. Understanding vesting schedules, exercise windows, and the "time rule" formula is essential to protect your share.
For those new to corporate compensation: Stock options give you the right to buy company stock at a set price. If HCA stock is trading at $250 but your spouse's options let them buy it at $150, that $100 difference (times the number of shares) is real wealth. RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) are company shares given as compensation that "vest" (become yours) over time. Both are valuable assets that must be divided fairly in divorce, but the tax implications are complex and mistakes can cost you thousands.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is one of the South's premier academic medical centers, employing thousands of physicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals in Williamson County and Nashville.
Vanderbilt-specific considerations:
Important note: In Tennessee, professional degrees and licenses are NOT considered property subject to division. However, the income-earning capacity from that medical degree IS considered heavily in spousal support calculations.
Williamson County has attracted significant tech sector growth, with companies like Amazon (Franklin fulfillment center and tech operations), Oracle, Asurion, and numerous startups establishing operations. This creates Silicon Valley-style compensation challenges in Tennessee divorces.
Tech industry assets in Williamson County divorces:
For those new to tech compensation: If your spouse worked for a tech company in Williamson County for 15-25 years, their compensation likely includes substantial unvested equity. This means they have stock options or RSUs that were granted during your marriage but won't fully "vest" (become theirs) until after divorce. You're still entitled to a portion of this deferred compensation—but calculating it requires sophisticated financial analysis.
Williamson County consistently ranks as Tennessee's wealthiest county, and real estate values in Brentwood, Franklin, and Nolensville have appreciated dramatically over the past two decades. Your home is likely your largest single asset—and the most emotionally charged.
High-value Williamson County areas:
Appreciation as marital property:
Critical decisions:
One of Tennessee's most powerful financial advantages is the absence of state income tax on wages, salaries, royalties, and most other income. This creates unique divorce planning opportunities that don't exist in high-tax states.
How no state income tax affects divorce planning:
Strategic consideration: If you're considering relocating after divorce, Tennessee's tax advantage is worth quantifying. Moving to a state with 7% income tax means you'd need to earn $107,000 to have the same after-tax income as $100,000 in Tennessee. Over 20-30 years of retirement, this advantage is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For those new to tax planning: State income tax can be one of your largest lifetime expenses. In California, high earners pay 13.3% state tax. In Tennessee, you pay 0%. If you're receiving $60,000/year in spousal support or pension income, that's an extra $7,980/year you'd lose by moving to California. Over 20 years, that's nearly $160,000. Protecting Tennessee's tax advantage in your divorce settlement is critical.
In Williamson County, 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 music, healthcare, or tech for 20-30 years in Nashville's booming economy, you've likely accumulated substantial wealth through:
Common scenario: Your spouse worked at HCA for 25 years and also earns music royalties from songwriting. You have a $950,000 home in Brentwood, $800,000 in retirement accounts, HCA stock options worth $200,000, music royalties earning $25,000/year, and investment accounts of $300,000. How do you divide this fairly while protecting your retirement and the income streams you'll need for life?
When you're 50, 60, or older, you don't have decades to "start over" financially. Every asset division decision affects whether you can retire comfortably in Williamson County or Tennessee.
Critical questions:
Many of our Williamson County clients—particularly those who focused on homemaking or supporting a spouse's demanding music industry, healthcare, or tech career—have never personally managed music royalties, HCA stock options, or six-figure investment portfolios.
You're not alone: We help you understand what you have, how it works, and how to manage it going forward. Music publishing statements, HCA benefits summaries, and tech stock vesting schedules aren't intuitive, but they're learnable. Our role is to demystify these assets and empower you to make informed decisions.
If you're 50-64 and divorcing, healthcare coverage becomes critical. You're too young for Medicare but may lose coverage through your spouse's HCA, Vanderbilt, or tech employer.
Options to explore:
As a Williamson County resident, your divorce follows Tennessee's equitable distribution laws. This means:
Tennessee's Community Property Election: This is one of Tennessee's most important and least understood divorce laws. Tennessee allows spouses to elect community property treatment (automatic 50/50 split) OR proceed with traditional equitable distribution (flexible division based on fairness). This strategic choice can dramatically impact your financial outcome. If you're the lower-earning spouse and want a guaranteed 50/50 split, this election may be powerful. If you brought significant separate property or can document greater contributions, traditional equitable distribution might be better.
Learn more about Tennessee's equitable distribution laws and community property election →
Tennessee courts have discretion in awarding spousal support (alimony). For gray divorce in affluent Williamson County, support is often a central issue.
Factors courts consider:
For gray divorce in Williamson County: If you're 55+ and haven't worked outside the home for 25+ years while supporting your spouse's music industry, healthcare, or tech career, courts recognize you may never achieve comparable income. Long-term or even lifetime support becomes more likely, especially given Williamson County's high cost of living and the standard of living you've enjoyed during the marriage.
Rehabilitative vs. long-term support: Tennessee offers different types of alimony including rehabilitative (transitional support while you gain education/training), long-term support, and lump-sum alimony. Understanding which type protects your interests requires careful financial analysis.
We provide virtual divorce financial planning services throughout Williamson County, 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, music royalties, HCA benefits, and asset division — so you negotiate from facts, not fear.
Document gathering checklists tell you exactly what to bring to your attorney — royalty statements, stock option agreements, real estate appraisals — so you walk in prepared, not panicked.
Map out your real expenses as a single person — Williamson County property taxes, maintenance, utilities — before you fight for something you can't actually maintain.
The asset identification system helps you find publishing rights, deferred compensation, and investment accounts you might not even know exist.
22-page guide + video tutorials + checklists + templates
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Get the Clarity You Need — $97Whether you're learning to manage music royalties for the first time or protecting decades of HCA Healthcare wealth, this guide gives you the clarity you need to navigate your Nashville divorce with confidence.
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