By Marguerite (Maggie) Smith, author of The New Standard, Marriage/Divorce, Protecting Closely Held Businesses
As in all aspects of this site, this is not intended to be legal advice. It is intended only as a general introduction to some common issues. There is no substitute for your own attorney who can advise as to your particular case.
Business assets can include a number of different assets, commonly:
Stock in publicly traded businesses
Retirement plans
Shares in closely held businesses
The most complex of these is the closely held business asset. This is where the focus of this article will be. This section on closely held businesses is divided into three main categories:
The first ‘Business Assets in Divorce’ deals with the divorce process.
The second and third ‘Prenuptial/Marital Agreements’ and ‘Shareholder/other Business Agreements’ deals with pre-divorce planning. For many who read this site it will be too late to plan ahead as the divorce process may be under way. None the less, there are significant steps that you can take, referenced in ‘Business Assets in Divorce’ to help to mitigate negative effects on the business/your interest in the business.