Even if your marriage has assets sufficient to meet your husband’s court-ordered portion, his role in your business can also force its sale. If he’s a business partner or is entitled to an ownership interest as ordered by the judge, you may want the unilateral right to buy out his share—particularly if you’d rather not have your ex-husband and his future wife as business partners. To do so, you might use your share of other marital assets or propose a long-term payout with interest. If your business represents the vast majority of your marital assets, though, there may be no other way to buy him out than to sell the company and divide the proceeds.
(Think ahead! Divorce-proofing your business can be a lengthy process. You may want to start now.)
- Retirement funds. Divorce requires the careful scrutiny of all retirement accounts, including pension plans, 401(k) plans, and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). It’s essential for your divorce settlement agreement to clearly spell out how these assets will be split and how those funds will be transferred.
Typically, retirement accounts are treated as marital property. (What is marital property?) However, the process by which they are divided depends upon a number of factors. For example, the court must adhere to federal guidelines when dividing funds in a 401(k) plan, but state laws dictate how IRAs are divided. Dividing pension plans can be the most complicated of all.