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Protect Your Business With These Tips
When you own a business, you should use resources and take steps to protect it during your divorce. No one expects to get a divorce, but the sooner you safeguard your business, the better.
These strategies can help save your business in the event of a divorce.
Determine Ownership
Do you own your business alone or does your spouse have a legitimate claim to a portion of the business? In Ohio, business is considered property, and in a divorce, the property is divided by equitable distribution. This means the court will divide marital and separate property based on your situation.
The business would be marital property if it was created during the marriage or with marital funds or effort.
Your business would be considered separate property under certain circumstances, such as:
You inherited the business.
Your stake in the business was gifted to you.
You used personal funds from a separate account to fund the business.
Your spouse signed a premarital agreement or postnuptial agreement specifying they would have no stake in the business upon a divorce.
Now that you have determined the ownership status of your business, you can make the necessary arrangements with the help of a divorce attorney to keep ownership during a divorce. Here’s what you can do.
Get Your Business Valuated
Lean on your attorney to help you hire a credible valuation firm to calculate how much your business is worth.
Keep Accounts Separate
While you go through the process of getting your business valued, keep an organized record of your accounts. Keep your business account separate from your personal bank accounts or accounts you share with your spouse. Maintaining separate accounts can help you keep your earnings from being categorized as marital property.
Keep Business Separate from Married Life
Try not to get your spouse involved in the business if you plan to claim sole ownership. It’s possible the subject of how your spouse helped your business can come up in the divorce and the court could see joint efforts or finances put into the business as marital property.
Develop a Plan With a Columbus Divorce Attorney
Owning a business and going through a divorce at the same time create obstacles that you may not be able to get through on your own. Contact Law Offices of William L. Geary at (614) 289-1227 to get a head start on planning for your business during the divorce process.