Business Owner Divorce Lawyer

Business Owner Divorce Attorneys in Columbus

Spouses who co-own businesses together have a more difficult time untangling their finances than most others. Divorces can put otherwise solvent businesses in peril or end up in the middle of a tug-of-war.

Regardless of whether you and your spouse co-own an LLC, a sole proprietorship, a general partnership, a professional organization, an S corporation, or anything else, the business owner divorce attorneys in Columbus at the Lawrence Law Office have successfully helped couples divide their assets under Ohio’s equitable division laws. In this article, we’ll discuss how a Columbus business owner’s divorce attorney can help you and your spouse manage something in the divorce that you created together.

What Will Happen to a Family-Owned Business in a Divorce?

Generally speaking, there are a few different things that can happen to a business when a couple owns and manages the business together. First, of course, is that one of the partners gives up their share of the business as part of the divorce settlement and then goes on to do something else. The second is that the two spouses remain business partners and attempt to manage or keep their shares in the business together. Lastly, in cases where the business is unlikely to survive the divorce, the couple may opt to liquidate the business and then distribute it following Ohio’s equitable distribution laws.

What Makes High-Net-Worth Divorces More Complicated?

In high-net-worth divorce cases, the legal process moves well beyond routine asset division. You’re not just dividing assets; you’re untangling layers of ownership, long-term investments, business interests, and sometimes trusts. Stock options, retirement accounts, and deferred compensation add another layer that can’t be rushed. For same-sex marriages or long-term relationships where property and finances have been deeply interwoven, it gets even more complex.

Spousal support calculations also shift in these cases. Courts look at lifestyle during the marriage, income beyond salary, and future earning potential. The Ohio Supreme Court has made it clear that equitable doesn’t mean equal, it means fair, and that requires context.

We guide our clients through every step of the divorce process with a focus on accuracy, transparency, and long-term stability. An experienced Columbus attorney can help identify the right legal option to protect what matters most and reach a favorable outcome that sets the stage for a new chapter.

What Is Considered When Resolving Business Ownership During Divorce?

There’s no manual for dividing ownership in a business during a divorce. Each situation is unique and will depend heavily on the wishes of the spouse. In the majority of these cases, one spouse chooses to divest their interest in the business either because they want a clean break or because it makes more sense to do that for all parties involved. In a lot of cases, the business might end up in a tug of war between the two spouses. This can happen for any number of reasons. Sometimes, the spouses will try to make a post-divorce business partnership work. Sometimes it does. More often it doesn’t. Some of the major factors that will determine what happens to a business during a divorce include:

When the business was started.

Ohio considers marital property anything acquired during the marriage. If the business was started during the marriage, it is marital property. Depending on several other factors, if one spouse started and owned the business before the marriage, it is more likely to be considered their property.

The increase or decrease in the business’s value during the marriage.

Suppose one spouse started the business before the marriage, but the other spouse made significant contributions to the business during the marriage that caused the business to increase in value. In that case, this will have a major impact on what the court deems as an equitable distribution of the business. 

Who wants the business?

If either spouse wishes to divest their interest in the business, they can do so. However, their share of the business must be evaluated, and then the court must assign a percentage.

As business owner divorce attorneys in Columbus, Ohio, the Lawrence Law Office has successfully negotiated deals that involved complex interests that both spouses had in a single business. While it’s true that sometimes one party walks away feeling angry at the outcome, it’s also true that arrangements can be made to satisfy the needs of both parties.

Since Ohio is an equitable distribution state, one spouse who is seriously committed to the business can buy out the other party’s interests. The complexity comes into play when attempting to evaluate the business properly.

How Does Business Ownership Impact Spousal Support in Ohio?

If one spouse owns a business, spousal support becomes more complicated. The court won’t just look at take-home pay; it’ll consider what the business generates. That means retained earnings, perks, and cash flow all get pulled into the equation. A detailed valuation is often needed to show true income.

In such cases, the spouse without control of the business may be at a disadvantage. That’s why this part of the legal process needs transparency and solid legal support. Whether you’re the one paying or receiving, your legal team has to present a clear picture or risk the outcome leaning the wrong way.

How is a Business’s Value Determined During a Divorce?

A business that was formed during the marriage is considered marital property. Even businesses that grew during the marriage can be regarded as marital property under Ohio law.

If one party wants to dissolve their stake in the business or if the business will not survive the marriage, the business must be appraised to divide the stake. The business will be appraised in accordance with the fair market value as of the date of separation.

In some cases, the valuation process is quite simple. Unfortunately, businesses are difficult to appraise for a number of reasons. In addition, when there are two competing interests, the party that is dissolving its interest in the business may overestimate its value or vice versa. During the negotiation process, an effort will be made to come to some agreement concerning the value of the business for the purposes of the divorce.

Alternatively, as often happens in divorce litigation, and certainly high net worth divorce litigation, a third party may be hired to provide the fair market value of the business. The parties can either accept this valuation or appeal the decision by having a second or third party come in and value the business.

At this point, both parties are costing themselves and each other a lot of money in both legal expenses and expenses related to the appraisal of the business. They will either agree to move forward with the third-party appraisal as the basis for the business’s value or attempt to negotiate the value with one another. If they cannot agree, the judge will be forced to rule on the business’s value for the divorce.

There are three main ways to value a business. These are:

• Appraising the assets;
• Determine the market value, and
• Assessing the annual income.

Different approaches will make sense for various types of businesses. For instance, an asset-based approach would make sense for a retail business with a lot of stock. Income-based approaches might make more sense for professional firms, and a market-value approach can be effective for just about any business. The market-value approach is based on comparisons to similar businesses and the prices at which they have sold.

Business Valuation Must Account for Intangible Assets

In a lot of Ohio divorce cases, the real value of a business isn’t sitting on shelves or in a warehouse. It’s in the digital side, things that don’t show up on a balance sheet but still drive revenue. These often play a major role in high-asset divorce cases, especially when business assets have to be split during property division.

Intangible assets might include:

• Domain names tied to your brand
• Digital storefronts, like Shopify or Etsy, with established traffic
• Social media accounts with monetized followings
• Customer data, email lists, and CRM tools
• Trademarks, licenses, or proprietary software
• SEO rankings and online visibility

If these grew in value during the marriage, they may count as marital assets, even if the business itself began as separate property. Under Ohio divorce law, any increase tied to joint effort or shared funds can trigger an equitable claim.

Proper evaluation of these assets is key. It affects spousal support, child support, and the full asset division. That’s why your legal team should bring in experienced business valuators when needed. If you’re facing a legal separation or divorce involving digital value, our team offers practical advice, accurate valuation strategies, and a free consultation to help you move forward.

What Happens When the Business’s Value is Misrepresented?

In cases in which the couple owns and manages the business together, each party can be relatively secure that the other is not attempting to hide information from them.

In cases where one party only has a stake in the business and that stake needs to be divided evenly during the divorce, it is possible for them to misrepresent the business’s actual value or withhold information critical to the process of appraising the business.

If one partner defrauds the other during the valuation process, the defrauded partner can later sue to recover their lawful stake. This, however, is not ideal. Such lawsuits can take years to reach an agreement and are very costly. The best road forward is to insist that the business is accurately appraised during the divorce to ensure that your stake is protected. If you need assistance, it is in your best interests to contact a high-asset divorce lawyer for immediate help.

The Emotional Side of Splitting a Business in Divorce

People talk a lot about dividing money, property, and titles. What they don’t talk about is what it feels like to split a business. If you built it, poured yourself into it, maybe even chose it over time with family, it’s not just a line on a spreadsheet. It’s yours. Losing part of that hurts.

What most people feel:

• Frustration from having no control over what happens next
• Fear of losing your role, your place, your name
• Resentment, especially if it feels like none of your work is being recognized
• Guilt, because sometimes there are employees stuck in the middle of it

A few things that help:

• Talk to a lawyer who gets it, someone who understands what’s at stake
• Don’t make every decision in defense mode
• Step back and ask yourself what you actually want to walk away with

This part sucks. But it won’t last forever. And you won’t lose everything.

How Can The Lawrence Law Office Protect Your Business During Divorce?

Divorce has the potential to destroy years of hard work and investment in a business. However, the Lawrence Law Office has successfully helped couples dissolve their marriage while simultaneously minimizing the impact of divorce on the business.

Our business law experience allows us to come up with creative solutions to the problems of disentangling interests in one business. This includes protecting partial ownership when both spouses hope to move forward as business partners, even if things didn’t work out as marital partners.

One of the biggest benefits our law firm can bring to your case is the extensive network of professionals we regularly rely on, particularly when working through the complex issues of dividing a business. There is more to this division than simply valuing the company and determining which spouse has ownership over all or part of it.

Any issue that involves a business will also affect a person’s estate plan, and even the business decisions they make going forward. You need professional advice when these issues arise, and our lawyers can provide it. 

Our attorneys are not only well-versed in family law matters, but in business and estate planning law, as well. With this extensive knowledge, we can advise on the issues you are not only facing now, but that will also come up in the future, as well.

Attorney Linda Lawrence also has an extensive network of experts, including financial planners and CPAs, that can help with even the most complex business issues that will arise during divorce. These professionals are often needed to advise on the specifics of a case, and what it means for the spouses as individuals, what it means for them as a couple, and what it means for your business.

When working with another attorney, you will still need these experts, but they often have to be outsourced. This usually means long wait times as you wait to hear back from them, or you need to wait to set up the first meeting. The professional then needs to get up to speed on every detail of your divorce case. When you work with us, these professionals are already built into our service, which means fewer wait times for you, and that the help you need is readily available. When you work with our skilled attorney, you get a one-stop shop for all your legal needs, as well as the other important services you need access to as a business owner.

Talk to a Divorce Issues Attorney for Business Owners in Columbus

Divorces in which the spouses own a partial interest in a business are complex affairs. They require attorneys who understand what’s at stake and can protect the business during the transition. Our attorneys have helped hundreds of couples in the Columbus area manage their share of a business during a divorce. Contact our Columbus business owners’ divorce attorneys today to set up an appointment. Call 614-810-4124 today.