Am I entitled to get half of my husband’s business in a divorce settlement?
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Am I entitled to get half of my husband’s business in a divorce settlement?
We started the business while we were married, my name is not on the business. We LLC’d the business in early 2009. I left on 12/26/09 for physical separation. We have a meeting with lawyers 09/14 to split assets. I want to ask for 1/2 of what the business is worth and 1/2 of what equipment is worth.
Asked on September 8, 2010 under Family Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
It is POSSIBLE that you may have a claim to the business, if you can show that you worked in or for it, or that you in some way made it possible for your soon to be ex-husband to start the business (e.g. you supported him while he started it). It's definitely something worth discusssing with your divorce attorney and bringing up during settlement negoations or in court. (Complex divorces--and ones where they might be a business to value and split would qualify as complex--should ALWAYS be done with an attorney.)
If your lawyer feels you can recover some interest in or share of the business, you should probably engage some sort of accountant or business consultant to help you value it--speaking as someone who has a small and completely non-liquid business, I can tell that fixing a value for them is very difficult. Good lucik.
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