Divorces Businesses and Assets

In divorces, there are a number of things that you have to deal with. Like your assets, marital debt, custody, and so on. Another issue could arise from your divorce if you own a business. How do you protect your business in a divorce? What happens if both you and your spouse own a business together in a Michigan divorce? In this blog, we will be going over each of these factors that you may encounter in your divorce.

How Do I Protect My Business In A Michigan Divorce?

During a divorce when dividing assets like personal and marital property, it’s a pretty easy process. Married couples usually share their house and other property. They also acquire property during the course of the marriage. For this reason, the court must determine what property belongs to whom, and how shared property should be divided. Like Spousal support, one of the objectives of property division is to return the other spouse to the position they were in before or during the marriage. The court will also try to give each spouse all of the property they have “equitable title” to. A quick tip to remember when you are going through a divorce, division of property cannot be modified after the case is finished. What’s done is done, the court doesn’t want to drag out the divorce for time and cost sake.

What Will Happen To Your Business?

So what about your business, how do you protect it? The thing about a business is that it has intrinsic value and isn’t like other assets. So how do you determine how to divide up the business and make sure it doesn’t suffer from the divorce? If both parties own the business and it’s their income then of course they could work something out where they still work together to keep the business running. That is the best case scenario that would allow the business to survive and both parties still get an equal amount of income. The main focus is how you and your attorney are going to handle the divorce so that your business can stay the same. It’s always a case by case situation, some are much more severe than others. The problem becomes when you have a business with perhaps multiple partners and when it needs to be distrusted properly. Each case is fact specific and case by case analysis needs to be done to determine how to address all of the issues.

How Does the Court Decide?

There are many approaches to property division utilized by various states. In Michigan, the preferred approach is known as the “equitable division of marital property”. Under this approach, any property which was owned by either spouse before the marriage is their own “separate property”. Any property which was acquired during the marriage is divided up in a fair and generally equal matter. That being said, what is fair will not always be “equal”, and the family court will seek fairness above all else. However, under certain circumstances, the court may dip into one party’s separate property to give to the other in order to achieve “fairness and equity”. They are also likely to treat what would otherwise be separate property as marital property if the other spouse was somehow instrumental in acquiring or developing that property.

Conclusion

When it comes to business in a divorce it’s complicated, it will always be a case by case situation so the outcome is going to be on you and your ex spouse. It is important to remember that in a divorce in Michigan, it is not about if it is in your name or your spouse’s name, it’s more about when the business was acquired and whose name it’s under. Remember to give all the information your attorney asks for so that you can get the best possible outcome. Hiding things will only hurt you and will make the divorce much more complicated.

If you need more information on High Asset Divorce or Marital Property or if you have any questions regarding divorce in The State of Michigan contact Goldman and Associates Law Firm. At Goldman and Associates, our attorneys are experts in family law and they will thoroughly examine all aspects of your divorce. With the best lawyers in Michigan, Goldman and Associates takes each and every case very seriously and gives you the outcome you desire.

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[Video] – What If My Ex Violates Our Michigan Custody Agreement & Leaves The State?

In rare and dramatic cases like this, this is what the court can refer to as parental kidnapping. More commonly, one parent may hold the child a day or two longer than they were supposed to. A lot of these situations can be resolved with appropriate communication between the parties. However if communication is not working, then there are motions that can be filed with the court where the court will order that the child is surrendered to authorities and brought back to this jurisdiction.

If the court has to go this route, then the court may impose sanctions on the party that violated the agreement. Custody cases can be difficult and time consuming but with an experienced attorney to help guide you through the process you’ll have nothing to worry about. Contact Goldman and Associates to speak to our top attorneys in Michigan.