Brundage Law P.A.

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What happens to a family business when couples get divorced?

On Behalf of | Jun 2, 2023 | Business Litigation |

When a couple gets divorced, they need to divide the assets that they own. Often, this means splitting up investments, bank accounts or the family home.

But what if the couple have also started a business together? Family businesses are incredibly common. Maybe they run a restaurant together where one person is the chef and the other person manages the employees. Perhaps they have an online business where they work together to build and sell products. No matter what type of company it is, what happens to it when they get divorced?

They can keep working together

First and foremost, those who find themselves in this position shouldn’t assume that they have to sell the business. They can decide simply to own that business together. This may be difficult because of the emotions involved with getting divorced, but there are no legal regulations against the couple ending their marriage and then continuing to be business owners. If they want to keep working together in that capacity, they certainly can.

They can sell the business

Another option is to sell the business. They can then take the money from that sale and divide it. This is a simple and easy way to split up an asset that they both own.

In some situations, one person will want to sell and the other person will want to keep running the family business on their own. If that happens, it’s also possible for one person to sell their share to the other. This may be done by purchasing it directly, or there are situations in which couples can exchange marital assets during property division to make things work smoothly.

As you can see, though, this type of divorce can get to be very complicated and even end up in court. It’s critical for those involved to understand their legal options.