If you are a business owner in Arizona facing divorce, it will be necessary for you to get a professional appraisal of your company. At Wilson-Goodman Law Group, PLLC, we have a deep understanding of the process of dividing significant assets such as businesses, and we often work with business owners to achieve their goals for the property division phase of the divorce.
According to the Arizona School of Real Estate & Business, only the investment of spouses during the marriage is community property, while the value of the business before the marriage is separate property. So, you will need to be able to show the judge the value of your business at the date of your marriage as well as the value on the day you or your spouse served the other with the Petition for Dissolution.
The business valuation expert who works with you must appraise not only the tangible assets of your company, but also the intangible assets such as contracts, trademarks, patents and goodwill. The value of goodwill is the cost of purchasing the company after subtracting the fair market value of tangible and intangible assets and liabilities. Not only is there goodwill in the company itself, there is also personal goodwill, which refers to your own value as a professional in that particular field.
In addition to the business valuation expert, you will probably also need to hire a forensic accountant who can go through all of your business records for at least the last five years and explain the increase or decrease in value to the court.
More information about the valuation of significant assets in a divorce is available on our webpage.