What should one expect regarding the division of a business in a Louisville divorce? What are the primary concerns if you own a company or a professional practice? What are some important issues for the spouse of a business owner?
The division of a business in a Louisville divorce is often one of the most contentious parts of the process of ending a marriage. Each party has substantial interests in how the business is characterized in terms of marital property and how the marital unit’s interest in the business is valued and ultimately divided. The owner of the business or professional practice is generally concerned with maintaining ownership and control of that entity. The spouse of the business owner is primarily focused on the value of that business asset from a marital property perspective. Unfortunately these are absolutely opposing interests and this is the challenge of managing these contentious cases.
The divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd have decades of experience in these cases. We provide sound advice and counsel to our client at each stage of the process. Generally speaking, there are three basic steps in the process of the division of a business in a Louisville divorce:
- Establishing whether the business asset is in whole or in part marital property, or if it is the separate property of the owner.
- Establishing an accurate valuation of the business itself so that the value of the marital interest in the business can be managed as part of marital property division.
- If the business owner wishes to keep their company, they are required to offset their former spouse’s half of the marital interest in the business asset from their own portion of marital assets such as equity in the family home or retirement accounts, or through some form of secured interest for the non-owning spouse’s marital share.
These issues can be resolved through negotiation between the parties, mediation or in trail before the Court. The result of this process will depend upon the goals of each former spouse, the valuation of the asset itself, the other assets which are characterized as marital property, the nature of the relationship between the parties and the ability to work through each step of the process.
Are you concerned about the division of a business in a Louisville divorce? Pre-planning can make a substantial impact on the successful accomplishment of your goals not only as they relate to the business itself, but on all of your objectives regarding the divorce.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
