Cerritos Business Owners Divorce Lawyer

Cerritos Business Owners Divorce Attorney

Cerritos is a beautifully master-planned community, boasting wonderful outdoor activities. There is always something lively to do at the Farmers Market, Performing Arts Center, or Sculpture Garden. Building a business in such an innovative community is a great decision. If that decision is threatened by a looming divorce, contact a local Cerritos business owners divorce lawyer. They will guide you through the process of preserving your business after the divorce.

Minyard Morris: Experienced Counsel for Business Owners Divorce Cases

Going through a divorce is complicated under any circumstances. Trying to preserve a business you’ve worked hard to build can be overwhelming. Our dedicated team of divorce attorneys at Minyard Morris is ready to put our 350 years of combined experience to use in advocating for your goals. We offer a unique approach to family law. We match our clients and attorneys based on experience, skills, and personality while making sure your goals, expectations, and needs are our focus.

Through collaborative weekly meetings, we discuss unique case challenges among all 19 of our family law attorneys, allowing us to offer tailored support through collective experience. We are frequent lecturers and authors on numerous family law topics. Our dedication to professionalism, ethics, and integrity has resulted in our being rated Platinum for Client Service by Martindale Hubbell.

Cerritos Business Owners

In 2024, Cerritos had a total population of 46,324, which encompassed the following:

• 23,090 total labor force
• 34,800 total employees
• 31% blue collar
• 68% white collar

Cerritos had a total of 3,393 businesses, with a breakdown of:

• 52% had 1-4 employees.
• 83% had 5-9 employees.
• 05% had 10-19 employees.
• 86% had 20-49 employees.
• 75% had 50 or more employees.

California Definitions of Property Types

As a business owner, how your business is handled during a divorce could depend on how the property is classified by the state’s business owners divorce laws. During the divorce process, all your property and debts should be divided based on how they are characterized. California courts recognize several types of property:

• Community property includes all property and debts acquired during the marriage. Even property and debts obtained without the other person’s knowledge or consent may be considered community property and subject to equal division.
• Separate property encompasses all property and debts each party proved before the marriage or after the official separation. Separation begins once one spouse expresses the clear desire to separate and then takes steps to move toward a separation. Gifts and inheritances received during the marriage are generally also considered separate property unless they were specifically shared.
• Quasi-community property involves property and debts obtained during the marriage, but while one or both spouses were living outside California. The court system treats quasi-community property the same as it would community property during the division of assets.
• Commingled property includes property and debts accumulated during the marriage that could be considered partially separate and partially community property. Commingling most commonly happens with high-value assets, such as real estate, or with banking or retirement accounts maintained during the marriage but opened before it.

If the division of property happens in court, the judge must award assets and debts in a fifty-fifty split. If an agreement is reached outside the court system, the judge will approve of the arrangement, even if it is not an even split.

Determine Your Business’s Value

An accurate valuation is important, as the value of the business should partially determine potential asset distribution. You must provide an a financial disclosure to your spouse after the divorce process has begun. Several methods are routinely used to determine a business’s value:

• The income approach evaluates your business spousal claims against the business may also be influenced by the amount of your salary provided by the business.
• The market approach estimates the value of the business by examining similar businesses in the area that have recently been bought or sold. This method relies on the availability of similar businesses in comparable areas to make a determination of value.
• The asset approach examines the total value of all tangible and intangible assets held by the business, along with liabilities.

A professional valuation is likely to use multiple methods to achieve an accurate estimate of the business’s value. A knowledgeable Cerritos business owners divorce attorney can find a skilled forensic accountant or similar professional to conduct the detailed valuation. If the asset distribution is contested, your appraiser may also testify to the value of your business in court.

Dividing Business Assets

Once an accurate valuation has been completed, you can discuss your business goals with your business owners divorce lawyer to determine your next course of action. How you choose to proceed could be determined by:

• Your plans for your business after the divorce is finalized
• The potential relationship with your spouse after the divorce
• Whether the division of assets is likely to be contested

Possible methods of division include:

• Buyout. If you want to retain sole ownership of your business after the divorce, buying out your spouse’s share of the business would be a good method and likely approved in court.
• Asset offset. If you want to retain sole ownership of your business but don’t have the funds to buy out your spouse’s ownership in the business, offering assets of equal value as a trade is a viable method.
• Shared ownership. If you are not concerned with retaining sole ownership and have a non-contentious relationship with your spouse, sharing ownership is an appropriate method.
• Selling. If you do not want to retain ownership of the business, you may be allowed to sell the business, and the proceeds can be divided. The long-term financial impact of each option varies significantly, largely due to the different tax consequences of a buyout versus a sale versus an asset swap.

Hire a Business Owners Divorce Lawyer

If you own your own business, you need to hire a business owners divorce lawyer for tailored advice on your unique goals. Through collaboration and one-on-one attention, we represent our clients’ goals through negotiation and litigation. Contact Minyard Morris to schedule a confidential consultation.