If you and your spouse own and run a business together and are planning to get divorced, you will both need to hire lawyers to help you divide everything you own, including your business. Dividing a business is not an easy task during a divorce, and it will require some tough decisions. Here are some of the options you can consider using for your business, and you and your spouse will have to agree on which option is the best for your situation.
Keep The Business Just As It Is
The first option you could consider is keeping your business jointly. With this option, you could both own half of it and continue to perform the same duties you were doing prior to the divorce. This can be the best option for saving a business, but it does not work out well when the spouses cannot stand each other. To use this method, you both must be able to work together and treat each other with respect. If you do not think this is possible, you should look into a different option.
One Could Buy The Other Out
The second option is to have one spouse buy the other out. With this option, you would have to decide which spouse would buy the business and which would walk away. To use this method, you may need to hire a business valuation company to determine how much the business is worth, and you could use this amount to determine how much the one spouse would have to pay the other for it. This is a great method to use if one spouse wants the business and the other does not.
Sell The Business
If you both cannot agree to keep the business or sell it to one spouse, the only other option you have is to sell the business to a third party. This would result in neither spouse keeping the business, and you could both split the profit from the sale evenly. If you and your spouse cannot agree on what to do with the business, the judge handling your divorce may have to decide, and this is the option the judge might declare.
Settling matters in a divorce is rarely an easy task, but it can be even more difficult when there is a business involved. If you have questions about this or any other divorce-related topic, contact a divorce lawyer.
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