Divorce Lawyers in Atlanta: 2nd Tip for Business Owners
Hi, this is Dave Ward of the Ward Law Firm. We protect businesses owners facing divorce. And we are going to be discussing three tips for business owners to help protect their business through the divorce process.
The second thing that you can do and this may strike people as a little harsh or if you’re just considering divorce, this maybe something that you need to give some thought to, but what I usually tell business owners is fire your spouse. And there’s a reason for this. It’s not just because you’re looking at getting divorced. There are actually several good reasons.
Number one, even if you started your business before the marriage, by having your spouse work in the business and contribute to the appreciation and growth of the business, she then or he then may have what’s called a claim to some aspect of the business because some portion of it may at that point become marital property even though you had started it before the marriage.
So, by not having your spouse work in the business, it helps reduce the amount of any claim that may be levied against the business. It’s also important for two other reasons related to your business.
Number one, is preventing any sort of business sabotage from going on, whether that be by losing orders or moving money, not paying bills, anything. Virtually anything that can involve harming the business can be done by most people who are involved in the business and the spouse in particular because employees are not likely to challenge a spouse who’s doing something in the business, which makes this threat of harm particularly problematic when you’re facing a divorce.
And finally, the final reason for firing your spouse and having your spouse get out of the business has to do with the potential that the divorce can be brought into the business. And that is something that can be catastrophic for a business because it will start pitting employee against employee as one seems more loyal to you versus your spouse and vice versa and it can end up destroying the synergy that you’ve taken so much time and energy to build in your business.
If you’re interested in learning more, call the information below and we can set up a time to do a real case analysis for you.
I’m Dave Ward, from the Ward Law Firm, and we protect business owners facing divorce. Contact us today!
