Do you own a family business with your spouse? If so, then a divorce could change far more than just your romantic relationship. It may mean that the ownership of your business itself is called into question. What is this going to mean for your professional future?
It really depends on your specific situation, but one option is to sell your business. If it has increased in value while you’ve been running it, then you could make a significant amount of money on the sale. You and your spouse can divide marital assets by splitting up these earnings. This keeps things simple—but what if you don’t want to sell your company and you view it as a long-term part of your career?
You can buy your ex’s half
One option in this scenario would be to buy out the half of the business owned by your spouse. Once they become your ex, they can take their money from this buyout, and the two of you can go your separate ways. You then become the sole business owner. If you don’t have enough cash on hand to buy them out directly, you may want to think about trading other assets, like a family home, an investment account or a retirement fund.
You can keep working together
That said, the two of you could also draft a partnership agreement and keep working together moving forward. You don’t have to change anything about how you run your business just because your romantic relationship is over. If it’s an amicable divorce and you’re both still on good terms, you may still be able to function easily as joint business owners.
Exactly what you do depends on your specific situation, but you can see how important it is to understand all the legal options you have.