If you own a business and/or your spouse owns a business, you are playing the highest stakes game in divorce law. The valuation of that business is determined as much by the savvy of your divorce lawyer as it is by the experience of the experts opining on that value. It is not just WHO the business valuator is that matters but, also, what kind of valuator the court deems them to be. The distinction a controlled expert or a 503(l) financial expert will make or cost you thousands to millions of dollars. Who Gets The Business In An Illinois Divorce? The business owner and operator is going to be awarded the business in an Illinois divorce. It would be ludicrous to award the business to the spouse that does not know how to operate the business. If both parties work in the business and presumably know how to operate the business, the court is encouraged to award the business to just one spouse. “[W]hen the property at issue is a small business and the parties have shown that they cannot work together, it is better to award the business solely to one party or the other.” In re Marriage of Thomas, 608 NE 2d 585 – Ill: Appellate Court, 3rd Dist. 1993 Once it’s determined that one spouse will keep the business in its entirety, the value of the business impacts how everything else is awarded in the divorce. An Illinois divorce court “shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors, including:… “the value of the property assigned to each spouse” 750 ILCS 5/503(d)(3) Why Does A Business Have To Be Valued In An Illinois Divorce? Businesses that are started or acquired during a marriage are marital and thus, divisible, in an Illinois divorce. “Real property and business interests acquired after marriage are presumed to be marital property unless they were purchased with nonmarital funds.” IN RE MARRIAGE OF SCHMITT, 909 NE 2d 221 – Ill: Appellate Court, 2nd Dist. 2009 “The business interest of a spouse acquired subsequent to marriage constitutes `marital property’ subject to equitable distribution upon dissolution.” In re Marriage of Schneider, 343 Ill.App.3d 628, 634, 278 Ill.Dec. 485, 798 N.E.2d 1242 (2003) If the business is marital, an Illinois divorce court An Illinois divorce court “shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions” 750 […]
