How To Protect Your Business In Divorce

When you have a business and divorce becomes inevitable, you need the expertise of a San Diego divorce lawyer. That way, you can determine the best way to handle California divorce and business ownership in your particular case. With the right California family law firm, you can address business ownership and marriage dissolution the right way and get your questions answered. These questions can include concerns such as the following:

The final say always comes from the judge. That is why it is so important to make sure that the facts can be presented properly. The more knowledge the judge has about how the business has been operated, the better decision he or she can make when it comes to dividing the business during a divorce. It is possible that the business will be solely granted to one spouse or the other, but it is more likely that there will be some division of it between the spouses, especially if they were both active in it, or if the business has been owned for a long time during the marriage.

Protecting a business can be accomplished based on how it is initially set up and how much both spouses work at the business. If one spouse primarily owns and operates the business, and that is provable, that can provide more protection. It is best to keep only one name on the registration documents, contracts, business cards, and other identifying features of the business in order to ensure that the business can be owned by only one spouse in the event of a divorce. This is not always possible, however, especially if divorce was never expected and comes as a surprise to the unsuspecting spouse. Issues about how to divorce-proof your company.

it is important to consult with an experienced San Diego divorce lawyer before filing your paperwork. If you are a business owner and you are concerned that the business can be controlled by your ex, only a qualified California family law firm will be able to help you sort through the complexities of the process.

In the state of California, all community property of the marriage or domestic partnership is divided up between the two parties in a marriage settlement agreement. Not all property owned by one party is considered community property. Assets that were inherited by one spouse or assets that were earned prior to marriage are considered separate property. If you owned a thriving business prior to getting married, the business is your separate property and will be treated as such in a divorce proceeding.

If you and your spouse started the business together, you will have to decide if you want to be the one to continue running the business. As a piece of community property, both parties are entitled to half of the value of the property. If you are both on the registration paperwork, and you both have a say in how the business is run, you will have to buy out your spouse in order to retain control of the business.

As with any divorce that involves a business, your business value will have to be determined by a third party. An accountant or valuation team will consult all of your business records and determine what your business is worth at this time. Future earnings are always considered when valuation is determined, and your current success in your business can result in a higher payout to your former spouse.

When you are concerned that your spouse is going to be able to control your business assets, it is best to get prepared before filing for your divorce. Encourage your spouse to find other employment and remove responsibilities from your spouse if at all possible. Gather together information that proves you are the primary business owner and allow a third party to come in and assess your business for the court system.

If you had a house, a business, a trust fund, or a large bank account before you entered into a marriage or a domestic partnership, these assets are considered separate property. As you dissolve your marriage or domestic partnership, you will be asked to list all of your debts and assets as part of the proceedings. Anything that you kept clearly separate from your spouse throughout your marriage will remain yours, as long as you can prove you are the first and only owner.

As a business owner looking for options to end a marriage or domestic partnership, it will be in your best interests to hire an experienced San Diego divorce lawyer to help you go through the process. If both parties of the marriage or domestic partnership started a business together, each will be responsible for debts that were incurred as well as any assets that have been established. The business will have to be valuated by a third party resource, and if either party wants to keep the business, they will have to buy out the other party to do so.

If you have a company of any kind, you will want to make sure you are protecting it in the best way possible, just in case your marriage fails at a later date. Fault does not matter, nor does the length of time you have been married or other circumstances surrounding your divorce. What matters is taking the time to divorce-proof your company from the time of its very creation, so you do not have as many worries to contend with if divorce becomes inevitable.