Boca Raton Divorce for Business Owners Lawyer
If you are a business owner facing divorce, the thought of dividing your property between you and your spouse may cause you serious concern. Unfortunately, this is an inevitable part of the divorce process. However, this does not mean that you will automatically lose your business, or even a portion of it. You do have options. Below, our Boca Raton divorce lawyer explains what those are.
Classifying Separate vs. Marital Property
During a divorce, only marital property is divided. Marital property includes any assets the couple acquired together during the marriage, or property that one spouse obtained during the marriage. Any assets acquired before the marriage by either party are considered separate property.
Regardless of when one spouse started a business, it is likely going to be considered as marital property by the courts. This is because the court will presume that the business’ profits were used to contribute to maintaining the household. This is commingling the assets and once that occurs, the property is considered marital. After it has been determined that a business is marital property, it must then be accurately valued so it can be properly divided.
How to Value a Business During Divorce
Businesses cannot be divided before they are fairly valued. The courts will order a professional appraiser or CPA to accurately value the business. As the business is being valued, there are many factors taken into consideration. These include the value of not just the physical property, but also raw materials, equipment, finished products, accounts receivables, and customer lists.
How to Divide a Business During Divorce
As a business owner, it is natural to worry that your spouse will automatically receive half of your business during divorce. In Florida, this rarely happens unless both spouses co-owned the business during the marriage and shared equal rights and responsibilities in the business operations. When just one spouse owned and operated the business, the courts will likely award it to them and them alone.
Even though sole business owners are typically allowed to keep the business after divorce, the spouse who does not share in ownership must still be compensated for their portion of it. As an equitable distribution state, marital property is divided fairly, although not necessarily equally, during divorce. As businesses are considered marital property, the spouse who owns the business will have to relinquish other property that is of equal or greater value so division is considered fair.
In other instances, property is not always exchanged for a share of a business. Sometimes, a judge may order the business owner to pay their former spouse more in alimony to make up for their share of the business.
Our Divorce Lawyers for Business Owners in Boca Raton Can Assist with Your Case
If you are a business owner going through a divorce, you need sound legal representation. At Williams & Varsegi, our Boca Raton divorce for business owners lawyer can provide it so you do not lose what is most valuable to you. Call us now at 954-255-5655 or contact us online to schedule a consultation and to learn more about how we can help.
