Thursday, October 15, 2009

How to Protect Your Business in Case of a Divorce

By PJ Kennedy

If you have a great marriage with beautiful kids, and you own a thriving business is hard to think about divorce. Your wife has been there for you since the beginning and you have a great relationship with her. More reasons to talk to her about a postnup. Divorce poses great threats for the health of a business, and if when you married you didn't prepared a prenup, maybe is time to speak with your wife about a postnup. Is a touchy subject and you want to approach your partner in a light conversation, but you want to stress the importance in protecting the family assets.

A great case in point is the owner of the New York Yankees, George Steinbrenner. The boss granted great powers and a financial stake to his soon to be ex-son in law in the family business, the New York Yankees. Then back in March/2007 his daughter filed for divorce from her husband and soon Steinbrenner was seating in the negotiation table with the enemy. And this is a primary example of how things quickly can turn sour in your business, today you might be dealing with family and tomorrow with a stranger.

Situations like this can create a very negative atmosphere in your business and with your partners. If you encounter yourself in this situation, you want to make sure that an agreement is in place, so the right of first bid to buy back shares at a prearranged price goes to you and your company in case of a divorce or separation.

You also want to instruct all your children, who eventually will have ownership stakes in your company to have prenuptials in place with their future wives to avoid this sort of situation. Of course everything has its time, so you want to instruct your children when will be the best time to have the prenup completed. They don't want to take a 100 page document on their first date, but planning is crucial for the well being of a business.

PJ Kennedy has worked in the granite industry for the past 15 years. Please visit his site http://www.massachusetts-granite.com for information on Massachusetts granite.


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