This November, Sotheby held the first of two auctions it calls "the most valuable, single-owner auction ever staged." What was it? The $676 million sale of half of the blue-chip art left from the bitter divorce of billionaire real estate developer Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda Macklowe after 57 years.

If ownership of significant assets and valuable shared marital property are at stake in your imminent New York divorce - and especially in the absence of a prenuptial agreement - you have rights that must be protected.