For the last decade, you and your spouse have been making a good living building up your local small business. Maybe it has even reached the point where you franchised it and opened other locations. The business provides a steady source of income for both of you, and it makes up the bulk of your net worth.
As such, you are very interested in what will happen to that business now that you and your spouse have decided to get a divorce. Below are three potential options.
You can sell the company
To start with, you may just want to sell the company and then split up the financial value. This is a straightforward way to address property division, and it could be quite lucrative if the business has significantly grown in value during your marriage. But it does mean stepping away from the business and losing your long-term income.
One of you can keep the business
Another option would be for one of you to keep the business while the other person moves on. The main complication here is that, if you would like to keep the business, you still have to buy out your spouse’s share. This may mean giving up other marital assets or even taking loans to buy it from them directly.
Both of you can keep working together
If you are still on relatively good terms, even though you are getting a divorce, remember that you can continue being business partners and working together. It largely depends on whether or not you think it will be realistic to maintain a professional relationship after the end of the marriage.
The exact option that is right for you will depend on your unique situation, but this helps to show some of the ways that you can address a business during divorce. Be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take while doing so.