Can business owners keep working together after a divorce?
Things get tricky when business owners are married, and they may have even been a married couple before they started the business. But they’ve now decided that they’re going to get divorced. As the marriage ends, they may start to wonder if that’s also the end of the family business.
It can be. Many people sell their businesses when they get divorced because dividing assets is easier. If a third party purchases the business outright, the co-owners can divide the money that they earn as they get divorced. It keeps things simple.
But it is certainly possible for business owners to continue to work together after the divorce. They don’t have to sell the company and they don’t have to be married to continue their business partnership.
What steps should they take?
For those who consider this, one of the most important things to do is to create a partnership agreement. This can define the new relationship. It can spell out how much of the business each person owns, how much they should earn, their duties and responsibilities, and much more.
Why don’t more people do this?
This solution is relatively uncommon just because it can be difficult for former romantic partners to see each other as often as business partners need to. One person may decide that they would rather just move on and have a clean break. This sometimes results in one business owner selling their share to the other, who wants to stay with the company.
For any of these three options, though, it’s most important for all involved to understand exactly what legal steps they’ll need to take.