If you are the owner of a business or medical practice and/or a licensed professional, there will be many questions about the division of a professional practice or business-related asset in a Louisville divorce. If the business was purchased or started at any point from the date of the marriage to the date of separation, or marital assets were used to support it, the business will usually be determined to be at least partially if not completely marital property. Marital property is equitably divided in a Kentucky divorce.
Financial interests associated with a business or professional practice are often quite substantial. The process of establishing the valuation of the business interest itself, as well as any marital interest in the company, will be financially and legally quite complicated. You will need the advice and counsel of the divorce and family law, business, and tax attorneys at Dodd & Dodd Attorneys, PLLC.
The first step is to establish an accurate valuation of the marital property interest in the business or professional practice. This can be done by agreement or through the testimony of expert witnesses. In other cases, the Court will order a valuation independently and determine how the cost associated with that expert opinion will be divided between the parties in the case.
It is quite common for the expert valuations of each side to be significantly different from one another. The owner of the company has a substantial interest in obtaining the lowest possible valuation. The former spouse of the business owner is interested in the highest possible valuation, as this will increase the amount they will receive during the marital property division.
How will differing valuations be managed, and who will ultimately determine the valuation of the marital interest? What is an equitable distribution of that interest? This is why any divorce involving the division of a professional practice or business-related asset requires an attorney with extensive, proven experience.
When a final valuation has been established before the Court, the owner of the company or professional practice will be faced with a new series of decisions. Usually, a business owner wants to complete the divorce with 100% ownership of their company or professional practice. This often requires the ability to “offset” any marital interest their former spouse may have in the company with other marital assets or money. There are several strategies for accomplishing this, including the division of investment accounts, pensions and retirement accounts, equity in the family home, or even a loan or debt instrument secured by the business itself.
Your Dodd and Dodd attorney has decades of experience with divorce cases involving a business asset, as well as the resources to protect your interests during the division of a professional practice or business-related asset in your divorce. Ask about the various strategies for establishing a fair and accurate valuation and how our tax attorney provides legal insight into your tax situation, but can also help to uncover important details, money, and assets based upon prior year tax returns.
What are your own goals and objectives? What is most important to you? What keeps you awake and worried at night? You can depend upon the sound advice and counsel of an experienced, proven legal team from Dodd & Dodd. If you are considering a divorce or are in the process of filing or responding to a divorce in Jefferson County or Louisville, and you or your soon-to-be former spouse own substantial interests in a professional practice, company, real estate, or other assets, we invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and the legal industry and contact Dodd & Dodd or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys. You have a lot on the line, and you will need the sound counsel and legal advice of a firm with family law, business and tax experience, and legal skills.
