Business Interests in a Boca Raton Divorce

Many married couples decide to start a business together in order to work for themselves and as a way to support their families. While owning a business with your spouse may often be a great way to earn a living, that same business can cause many complications should one or both of you decide you want to file for divorce. The business is considered to be property, just like a home or other assets, and such property is subject to equitable division in a divorce. Deciding what to do with the family business can be difficult and complicated, and you always want to make sure you have a divorce attorney who can advise you of all of your options, and help you select the best one for your situation.

Three Main Options

When dealing with a business in divorce, there are three primary options. These three options are as follows:

Continue to share the business. Some divorces are amicable, and the two spouses continue to get along. If you believe that you and your spouse can continue to successfully and contently work together, you can continue to co-own the business following the divorce. However, if you are considering continued co-ownership, you want to thoroughly make sure that the two of you can work together and maintain a trusting working relationship. If there is any doubt, continuing to work together may only cause more trouble down the road.

Sell the business to a third party. With this option, you will have to determine the value of the business and put the entire business up for sale. Though finding an appropriate buyer may take time, you and your spouse can divide the profits from the sale. This allows each spouse to benefit from the sale and possibly use their share of the proceeds to start their own new business or invest in something else.

One spouse buys out the other’s business interest. This also requires valuation of the business, and then the spouse who wishes to keep the business will have to pay the other spouse half of that value (if they have equal interests). If one spouse does not have the liquid assets to pay the full amount, the two spouses can negotiate using other assets in the divorce, such as home equity or securities. If necessary, the couple may come to a structured settlement, in which the spouse buying the business pays the other person a monthly payment over a certain period time, with interest, until their share of the business is completely bought out.

Contact an Attorney for Help

As you can see, divorces that involve businesses can be extremely complicated and you will have many choices to make. If you do not have an attorney who knows how to handles business interests in divorce, you risk losing much of what you have worked so hard to build in your business. Boca Raton divorce attorney Alan R. Burton has extensive experience handling business interests in divorce, so do not hesitate to call our office today at (954) 295-9222 to discuss your case.