How A Business Is Divided In A Divorce
Posted on: 2 September 2019
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When a couple owns a business together and decides to divorce, things can get tricky. In most cases, the most challenging part of this is trying to determine how to divide the business between the two spouses. If this is a situation you are currently in, here are several things you should know about how to divide your business in your divorce.
Find out if you both have equal rights to it
Before you go too far with determining how to divide a business, you will need to make sure that you both have equal rights to it. If your spouse had the business prior to your marriage, you may not have rights to it. You can find this out by talking to a lawyer about the situation. If you do not have rights to it, or if your spouse does not have rights to your business, then there will be nothing to divide relating to it.
Determine who will keep it
If you both have rights to this business, then the most important thing to decide is who will keep it. While there are some couples that will both continue to work in a business they own together after their divorce, most do not do this. If one person wants the business, then that person will typically have to buy the other person out. If neither person wants it, then you could sell it.
Hire a business valuation expert to appraise it
No matter what you decide to do with the business, you will have to determine its value, and the best method for this is through a business valuation expert. This type of expert can review and analyze your business to come up with a value for it. The value will then be used to determine how much to sell it for or how to divide it up.
Reach an agreement
Once you know the value of the business and decide who will keep it or how you will handle it, you can then try to reach a mutual decision about it. This should be documented in your divorce decree in great detail so there are no questions about it later.
If this is an issue you will face in your divorce, make sure you hire a good divorce attorney to help you settle and divide your business so that you can receive your fair share of it.