There are a lot of different things to think about if you have a family business. While you might not realize it now, you have to take steps to protect your business and hard work if you are thinking about getting married. It is understandable that you want to make sure that your future spouse remains happy with you, but you can’t put your hard work in jeopardy.
One thing that you can do to help protect your business is to put generational wealth in a trust fund. This can protect the assets placed in the trust from divorce proceedings. Be sure to find out which trust is the right one for your needs so that future generations are provided for.
Another thing you can do is to enter into a prenuptial agreement with your future spouse. This document can include terms that dictate what happens if you go through a divorce. When you get the prenuptial agreement together, make sure that you are clear about what should happen with the business.
If you don’t have a prenuptial agreement and your future spouse will be involved in the business, you may have to consider simply leaving the business as it is if you end up getting a divorce. Keeping things status quo is preferable in some cases to having to upend everything with buyouts and massive changes.
Even if you didn’t think to take any of the steps above, you might still be able to protect your business in a divorce. It is imperative that you look into the possible options as soon as you realize that divorce is inevitable.
Source: MarketWatch, “How to protect your family business during a divorce,” Daniel Thompson, Feb. 10, 2017