Business Partnerships & Corporate Entities in Divorce
Do You Own a Business with Your Spouse?
The strain of a divorce is usually an emotional time and a financially uncertain one. Partners who are ending a marriage and who own a business together, however, can face even more challenges. These situations are common, with over a million U.S. businesses being owned and operated by married spouses, but they raise unique circumstances and difficult questions in the face of divorce. How many of these businesses manage to survive?
Business assets in a divorce settlement are often the subject of conflict. For this reason, you will want to retain the services of Lois M. Brenner, Esq., a highly skilled New York divorce attorney. Over the last 35 years, our lead attorney has helped many divorcing business partners successfully manage their complex and sophisticated joint business interests, making her uniquely qualified to handle the financial challenges involved in your case.
How Business Relationships Are Addressed During Divorce
It is common legal advice for married business partners going through a divorce that one partner buy out the other. Because there is an objective measure of value inherent to a business, separating partners can arrive at objective figures and then divide. However, when business assets are distributed, payments are not always lump-sum, and may involve slower payments over time or without interest.
It is to the advantage of both spouses to cooperate, since the business may support both spouses in post-divorce life. In some cases, separating partners may not have the same goals or interests with respect to the business, which makes selling a business and splitting funds an equitable option. Although it is an option, it is a risky choice for partners who will soon be in divorce court.
Sometimes, one partner may keep the business and the other keeps different assets. Separating spouses have a lot to consider, and even more so when those spouses own a business together. As with many other issues that arise in divorce and family law proceedings, the best option depends on whether spouses can amicably arrive at agreements and the unique facts and circumstances involved. When there are difficulties, working with an experienced attorney should be a priority. We can help you analyze the possibilities.
To learn more about how we can help, call Lois M. Brenner, Esq. today at (646) 663-4546.
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Everything you said about mediation was true. My husband and I really connected in a positive way working out the details of our divorce in mediation with you. The arguing was endless but we finally heard each other. You have a lot of patience. The property discussions made everything so emotional. You kept us focused and stopped us from rehashing the past. We tell everyone about you. Hopefully none of our friends will divorce but if they do we will tell them they need you.- Tom & Philip R.
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“You are New York’s best divorce lawyer!”- Danielle
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We have Lois Brenner to thank for turning our marriage around. We hired Lois as our mediator when we were considering divorce. When we started working with her and she realized we wanted to try to keep our marriage together she suggested a postnuptial agreement to get our marriage back on track. Having the postnuptial agreement made us both accountable when it came to our issues. Having this doc in place is clearly helping us redefine our marriage in a better way. I don’t know if we will never get divorced, but for now we are respecting each others’ boundaries and are aware of the consequences if we don’t! It was really cool that Ms. Brenner suggested this method as an option. Most divorce attorneys would not have suggested a way for us to try to stay together. She is very talented and unusual in the best possible way. If we choose to take the divorce path eventually we will definitely hire her again. In the meantime we are making it work. She is amazing.- Joseph M
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“Expert, Compassionate Counsel”- Alisa
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When my daughter was sideswiped and served with a summons by her husband we called Lois Brenner. I had met Lois when she was giving a seminar on Marriage and Finances. I thought she was really smart. I never dreamt I would be calling her to help my daughter. When we went to see her she put our minds at ease. We immediately knew she was the attorney for us. She managed to negotiate a really good settlement with my son-in-law’s attorney. She was tough and always returned our phone calls and responded immediately to our emails. We even heard from her on weekends!! She was determined to keep us out of court and guided us every step of the way. She was our Angel!!! Mary B.- Mary B
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“Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!”- Sara and Jeff
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Lois acted as the mediator in my divorce, and she was absolutely excellent. It was a very difficult time for me personally, but Lois made the process as easy and painless as it could possibly have been. She listened to each of us separately, and made thoughtful and helpful suggestions. She is fair, and seemed to genuinely care about finding a solution that was best for both parties. Lois is perfectly qualified to handle this type of situation, given her background in psychology. She truly understands people, and used this ability to keep my ex-husband and I calm, and smoothly navigate a few tricky situations. I felt very understood by Lois, and think that she not just a top-quality attorney, but also a very decent person. She is responsive, and answered my emails within a couple of minutes every time. Highly rated!
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Lois Brenner, her colleagues, team of experts and staff are phenominal. I hired them to help me to see my son who had been taken out of state by my wife during this insane pandemic. She decided to take him to stay with family but then she sideswiped me with a divorce. I was devastated. Lois Brenner and her litigation partner fought for me and made it possible for me to see my son. They are handling my divorce now and their strength and support is getting me through a really tough time. They are smart, tough and highly experienced.
