Property division, much like child support and custody, is one of the more challenging matters to sort out with your spouse in divorce negotiations. Reaching an agreement about how to divide valuable assets such as a family business can seem particularly daunting. It doesn’t have to be, though.
You can take some steps to more quickly settle your divorce if arriving at a value for your family business is proving challenging. One may involve bringing an appraiser into the mix.
How does an appraiser arrive at your business’s valuation?
An appraiser may consider your company’s tangible and intangible assets when determining its value. Some of the more tangible assets that an appraiser may assess include:
- Your office building
- Land your company owns
- Technological equipment and devices your business has
- Furniture
- Heavy equipment
Intellectual property such as trade secrets, business processes, copyrights or patents that your company may own also figure into an appraiser’s assessment.
Appraisers also often consider an industry’s growth, brand recognition, a company’s reputation and partnerships when determining its value.
Deciding what to do with your family business as you divorce
Many divorcing couples end up deciding that one spouse will sell their shares in the business to the other and receive other assets in return. Other divorcing couples continue to run the family business jointly. Some couples decide to sell off their company and split the proceeds.
No matter what your ultimate choice for your company’s future is, you should find out how much it’s worth. Conversations about what’s going to happen with the company that you’ve grown aren’t likely to be easy, so experienced legal guidance is important.