When filing for divorce, a business owner may need to obtain a professional appraisal to determine his or her enterprise’s divisibility. As noted by SmartAsset, Indiana’s equitable division laws require Hoosier couples to divide their marital assets fairly.
Marital property may include businesses purchased or established during the marriage. Each spouse generally has a right to receive a fair portion of a business’s current market value. Even if a spouse did not help with running a business’s operation, the law requires sharing it during a divorce.
The court may divide marital assets based on fairness
If two soon-to-be ex-spouses cannot reach an agreement reflecting a fair division of their marital assets, the court may decide for them. A judge, however, may determine how to divide assets by considering fairness based on the marital properties’ combined value.
One spouse, for example, may receive a larger proportion of a business’s cash value. In exchange for the difference, however, the other spouse may take ownership of another asset, such as a formerly shared vehicle or home.
A business owner may protect his or her share
A business may have substantial-worth and future revenue that requires a fair division. As described by Business.com, if an uninterested spouse receives shares in a company, it may dilute the other spouse’s ownership percentage.
To protect an enterprise from a spouse lacking involvement, an owner may need to negotiate a post-marital agreement. Before heading to court to finalize a divorce, couples may separate their assets on mutually agreed-upon terms.
The Hoosier State’s laws consider a business received as a gift or an inheritance as a spouse’s separate property and may not require division. Separate property may also include businesses that went into effect after marriage with a signed agreement confirming ownership belongs entirely to one spouse.