New York female business owners who are considering going through a divorce likely have a lot of questions on their minds. It’s fairly normal for marital assets to be split up throughout the divorce process. When it comes to your business, it’s important to understand what’s likely to happen to it so that you can prepare yourself.
Is your business marital property?
The first step in determining what happens to your business is discovering whether or not it’s considered marital property underneath the law. In most cases, a business that was started after you were married is considered marital property. Just because your business was established before your marriage does not always make it separate property. In some cases, your business may be considered marital property if you use marital funds for your business.
Once you understand whether or not your business will be considered marital property, you can move forward with your next step in the complex asset division process. If your business is considered marital property, you want to have it evaluated by a professional business appraiser. This ensures that everybody’s on the same page for what the value of the business is and allows you to formulate negotiations with your spouse.
Try for a collaborative divorce
One of the best things you can do when it comes to a complicated divorce is to opt for a collaborative one. This type of divorce helps to keep your information out of the courtroom. This type of alternative dispute resolution proceeding allows you and your spouse to sit down with your legal representative and any specialists that you decide to bring in to fairly divide up your assets. This option is also much cheaper than going the traditional court route.
Going through a divorce can be difficult, to begin with. When you throw in having your own business on top of it, it can get very complex very quickly. For this reason, it’s advisable to hire an attorney to assist you along the way.