Are you and your spouse joint business owners? Perhaps you started the business together, fell in love and got married. Or maybe you had already gotten married and you decided to go into business so that you could each work together and generate your own income, rather than looking for a job.
No matter how your family business began, you will likely be worried about the future of it if you’re getting a divorce. You know that you could sell the business so that you can split up the money, but you may be wondering if it’s possible for you to keep the company. Divorce is going to be a major change in your life, but can you create some stability by keeping your business?
Buying the other half
One tactic is to buy the other half of the business from your spouse. It may be necessary to give them other marital assets that you would have retained otherwise. For instance, maybe the two of you also have a retirement account that has a similar valuation to the business. Your spouse could take that account and you could take over as the sole business owner.
Continuing to work together
Additionally, remember that you can keep working as business partners if you’d like. This is difficult emotionally for some couples, so it doesn’t work in every situation. But there are also many couples who are going through a completely amicable divorce, and they can just draft a partnership agreement and alter the status of the relationship. You may not have to sell your business at all.
These are a few things to keep in mind as you move toward divorce. Be sure you consider all of your legal options carefully.
