When a client comes to meet with one of our Tomball divorce lawyers, they often have two questions. First, they ask how long it will take for their divorce to be final. Second, they want to know how much their divorce will cost. Unfortunately, we cannot answer either of these questions with any specificity. Every divorce case is unique.
If you and your spouse don’t have any joint assets, we can usually get your divorce finalized in about six months. However, if the two of you have joint assets, such as a business, it can take a lot longer. Not surprisingly, the longer it takes for your divorce to be resolved, the more expensive it will be.
Of course, our Texas divorce attorneys try our best to get your divorce resolved as quickly and as painlessly as possible. At the same time, we will not rush matters if it means you will walk away without your fair share of your marital assets.
Here, we will discuss how your Tomball divorce attorney will go about dividing your marital assets. Specifically, we will explain what will happen if you and your spouse own a business together. If you still have questions or concerns about your divorce, contact our office directly. We can always set up a date and time for you to come in and meet with one of our seasoned Texas divorce lawyers.
Your Tomball Divorce Lawyer Would Consider Your Case to Be a Contested Divorce
Every now and then, our Texas divorce lawyers meet with someone who needs to file for an uncontested divorce. In these cases, both spouses agree that divorce is the best thing to do. They also have few, if any, assets that need to be divided. Also, there are rarely children involved in an uncontested divorce.
If you’re like most of our clients, then you will need to file a contested divorce. In a contested divorce, there are a variety of major issues that need to be addressed. One of these issues involves marital property.
For example, if you and your spouse started a business together, your Tomball divorce attorney will need to find a way to divide that business fairly. It isn’t like a house, where you can sell it and split the proceeds. Nor is it like an art collection where both spouses walk away with half.
Your Joint Business Will Be Divided Between You and Your Spouse
When it comes to your joint business, there are some hard questions you will need to ask yourself. First, you need to decide whether you and your spouse want to keep the business open. Perhaps you plan to continue to run it together. Or maybe one of you wants to keep the business and the other wants to sell it.
If this is the case, your Tomball divorce attorney will need to find a way to pay your spouse off. Usually, this is done using other marital assets. For example, you may get the business while your spouse gets to keep (or sell) the marital home. Or you may use joint investments as a way to balance out one of you keeping the business.
Since every case is different, there is no way to know upfront how this will work out. Big problems will arise if both of you want to keep the business. Unless you agree to run it together and split the profits each month, there is no workaround for this. One of the issues our Texas divorce lawyers encounter is that most couples who decide to get divorced don’t get along well enough to run a business together.
Your Texas Divorce Lawyer Will Outline Ways to Achieve This
When you first meet with your Tomball divorce attorney, they will ask you for a list of your joint debts and assets. When all is said and done, your lawyer will need to ensure that both you and your spouse walk away with a fair share of the debts and assets. As explained above, if you have a business together, it will complicate matters.
Some of the ways in which this asset can be equitably divided include the following.
- You may both agree to sell the business, pay off the business debts, and split the proceeds.
- You may decide that one of you will keep the business and the other will keep the marital home.
- You can offset the value of the business by forgoing a right to certain investments such as your spouse’s 401K and pension.
- You may decide to keep the business and hire somebody to run it for you.
- Of course, you can choose to operate the business the same way you have for years.
Your Tomball divorce attorney will work with your spouse’s lawyer to come up with a fair resolution. Once you and your spouses agree to the terms, they will be written into your final marital settlement agreement.
Reach Out to One of Our Tomball Divorce Lawyers
One of the reasons a lot of our clients don’t come to see us right away is that they know divorce can be expensive. Aside from your Texas divorce attorney’s fees, you’ll also have to divide your marital property. If you happen to own a business with your spouse, it will be very difficult to divide the business fairly.
One of you may want to keep the business open. The other may want to sell it off and split the proceeds. In fact, your spouse may insist that the business is theirs and that you’re not entitled to any of it. If that’s the case, your Texas divorce lawyer will do what they can to protect your legal interest in the business.
The last thing you want to happen is for your spouse to hire a divorce attorney before you do. Usually, whoever files for divorce first has the upper hand throughout the divorce process. This means you should call a Tomball divorce lawyer as soon as you decide you want to proceed with a separation.
This way, when it is time to file your divorce complaint, you already have a lawyer working on the matter. This way, you can get the upper hand instead. Your spouse and their lawyer won’t be able to take advantage of you.
We suggest that you call our office as soon as possible and speak with one of our divorce attorneys in Tomball today.
