The sheer act of ending a marriage is already painful in itself. It’s hard to untether ourselves from our significant other after years and years of building a life together. Going on our separate ways would be next to impossible. The bond forged by years of love and commitment is not going to disappear overnight. It’s even harder when children are involved. It means that more hearts would be broken.
Going through divorces is hard but possible. But it’s good that your divorce lawyers help you in having clean separations. This means putting some physical distance between you and your spouses. And it means dividing your assets.
But the division of assets can be tricky when businesses are involved. Your business is counted as an asset that can be divided between divorcing spouses. But, as business owners, it may be better to keep your business to yourself rather than making your spouse a shareholder. It’s because divorced relationships are complicated enough. Mixing them with your ongoing business can make it hard for you to move on for good.
Make Sure all of your Records are in Order
After you and your spouse decide to go on your separate ways, it would be good to stop mixing the finances related to your business and the finances related to your family. You may not always notice, but this is actually a common practice.
When your business was struggling, you might have dipped into your personal savings to keep it afloat and cover your employees’ income. In some cases, your spouse might have let you borrow some of their own savings. This shows a married couple’s commitment to one another. It’s proof that they share everything, even each other’s professional problems.
But when it comes to divorces, it’s good to keep these records in order. It lays out everything on the table. So when it’s time to talk out the division of assets, there’s no chance for you to be blindsided by claims of you owing to some debt.
Buy your Spouse Out of the Company
Many of you embarked on the marriage journey while you’re young and just starting with your career. When you got married, your company was only classified as a small business enterprise. They were valued at barely $100 thousand. Maybe even less. But you didn’t know that, 20 years later, our companies could be valued at millions.
By the time your business has expanded and accomplished so much, your spouse may already have a stake in the company. After all, it’s not uncommon for spouses to help each other out with the other’s business. It’s also not surprising if your spouse contributed to your company by helping out as a consultant or employee.
If this is the case, then it’s better to buy your spouse out of the company. You can offer to repay their shares and more as a settlement for the divorce. If you can’t afford it right away, you can offer to pay them over a certain period of time. If they’re currently employed in the company, then it’s time to ease them out.
Give Away your Other Assets
Part of building a life together is sharing the expenses and investments throughout the years. You paid together for the magnificent and, quite often, expensive house in the suburbs. You bought the cars together. You bought other personal property such as furniture, jewelry, and pieces of art.
To land on a settlement and finally put the divorce to bed, you and your spouse have to decide who gets what. To keep 100 percent ownership of your business, it would be wise to give up your other assets. It would hurt to sacrifice that Tesla you’ve always dreamed of buying. It would hurt even more if you have to give up the beach house in a secluded part of the Hamptons. But these are the sacrifices you’ll have to make to keep your business to yourself. With your business, you’ll have to save up again for a new Tesla.
Going through a divorce is never a walk in the park. It’s a painful thing to do. You and your spouse have built a life together, so it’s not easy when that life is turned into assets that are to be divided between you two. But it’s a necessary step to moving on. And, to truly move on, it would be good if you two are not involved in your business.
