When you’re both a business owner and someone who’s in the middle of a personal separation, a lot of risk ends up hanging over you.

You’ve got your personal assets to think about, whether or not you brought them into the marriage or bought into them as a couple. That’s quite nerve wracking in itself. 

But then you’ve also got the business to think about too. You set it up together, you’re both named as owners (or shareholders), and now you might need to split it up between the two of you. 

Either way, you could be facing down a future with less of a business than you ever intended to have. 

And because of that, it’s good to know what you might be in for now that you and your partner are neither together, nor working as business partners anymore. 

Here’s what you need to focus on right now.

You Both Have an Interest in the Business

And yes, that’s a vested legal interest at that. Because even when it was just you or your partner actually working on the business, the other person was still putting their time and effort into making these dreams come true.

There’s no way to just write off your ex and take full control over a business asset. You’ll need to consider it as part of the separation and/or divorce in the same way as any other capital you may hold. 

If You Were Planning Something, You May Need to Press Pause

When a couple who own a business together suddenly split and go their own ways, the business stays in the middle. 

After all, what was a business being run jointly by two individuals (or by one person while the other either facilitated the work or weighed in in an official capacity), is now a business that has just the one person behind it. 

And if this one person is now making all of the decisions, it’s not fair.

So, until your future is agreed on, and either you get back together or a divorce is finalized and your assets are properly divided out, the business has to remain in this state until everyone has signed. 

As such, any plans you had for growth, acquisitions, new investments, etc., will need to be put on hold. 

Ask Your Lawyer

When you’re separating from your partner and have a family business to think about at the same time, it’s important to get a lawyer involved early on.

Indeed, divorce for business owners can get complicated very quickly, and you and your ex need to be sure where you stand in terms of what you’re still allowed access to. 

Remember, even if the business is only in one name, there’s still a genuine legal interest that can be claimed by the other person. Plus, you both need an idea of what to expect from the future ahead. 

Family businesses can suffer during separations. Get your career future sorted out at once.