by VA Family Law Firm

Blog, DivorceSeptember 23, 20200 comments

About Divorce Settlement & Business Assets Northern Virginia 

Dividing property is one of the trickier aspects of divorce and adding a business into the mix only further complicates things. Divorcing entrepreneurs in Northern Virginia often want to know how their divorce settlement impacts their business assets.

Business owners may wonder if their business assets are marital property, and if so, how they will be divided. Keep reading to learn how business assets are commonly valued and distributed during divorce.

Methods to Determine a Business’s Value

Because a business cannot be valued in the same way that other investments and property are, there are a number of ways of ascertaining its worth. Fair market value and the willing-buyer-willing-seller valuations are not used for these purposes in the Commonwealth.

Income-Excess Earning

This method of valuation looks at the income the spouse earns from his or her business and compares that to an average salary of a comparable peer. If the spouse earns more than his or her peers, that excess becomes part of the business’s value. 

Asset Valuation

Each of the businesses assets is valued, and this creates the picture of the business’s worth. Assets can include physical goods, such as product inventory and real estate, for example. Intellectual property may also be considered an asset.

Market Valuation 

Yet another method of determining value of business assets in Northern Virginia is market valuation. This method uses the selling price of similar property to approximate the business’s value.

Will I Lose My Business?

Typically, the business-owning spouse is not forced to sell their business or share it with their spouse. However, an equitable portion of the business’s value may be owed to the non-owning spouse in the settlement.

Divorce Settlement Business Assets Northern Virginia

Concerned how your business assets will be affected by your divorce? Contact the professionals at Grenadier, Duffett, Levi, Winkler & Rubin, P.C. to schedule an appointment.