Anticipating what to do about a family business during a divorce can be a significant concern for divorcing spouses who also own a business together. For that reason, divorcing couples should be familiar with the different options for addressing a family business during divorce.
The divorcing spouses sell the business and divide the proceeds
One option for dividing a business is for the divorcing couple to sell the business and share the proceeds of the sale. This can delay the divorce in some instances because the divorcing couple will have to wait on the sale of the business to complete that portion of their property division process.
One divorcing spouse buys out the other spouse
If one spouse wants to continue to operate the business, they may wish to buy out the other spouse’s interest based on the appraised value of the business.
The divorcing spouses continue to operate the business together
If the divorcing spouses are able to continue to work together, they may want to both continue as owners of the business. It will be a good idea for them to work out an agreement for how they will work together and manage and operate the business moving forward.
How to divide a family business is an important part of the property division process for divorcing couples who are also business owners. The family law process serves as a resource to help guide divorcing spouses through the property division process so the divorcing spouses should be familiar with how it can help them address dividing their business interests.
