The family business and divorce

It is not uncommon for many family businesses in South Carolina to be started or operated by couples who are married to each other. Working with a spouse may not be for everyone, but it can provide some people a nice way to balance professional and personal lives. However, when the business owners decide they can no longer stay married to each other, the business may be in jeopardy as well.

MarketWatch explains that couples in this situation may end up having to sell the business to another party if one of the spouses does not have sufficient cash flow or other resources with which to buy out the business from their partner. Some people might opt to run the business together even after their divorce, but this should be done only if the level of conflict can be managed.

Creating a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement may be one of the best ways that a couple can guard against surprises at this time. These contracts may outline provisions for how the business will be valued and other important topics. A buy-sell agreement could be created at the same time as the marital contract to provide even greater detail and clarification around how a business will be managed or addressed if and when the couple ever divorces.

If you would like to learn more about how you may best protect your family business against negative consequences due to a potential divorce, please feel free to visit the working and married partners’ page of our South Carolina business law website.