BUSINESS DISPUTES OF SPOUSES

What problems do participants in “expensive divorces” face? How to properly divide the “jointly acquired” shares? Thanks to what and how to properly divide numerous real estate in case of divorce? How to properly divide foreign property? … ..

The drivers of the US judicial practice in the field of family disputes are cases of the division of wealth of wealthy citizens. There are no simple solutions here, and in cases one has to involve not only family lawyers, but also corporate lawyers who understand the intricacies of corporate law and the rules of foreign jurisdictions.

First of all, you should understand what risks are involved.

These are the main “family” risks for business and business disputes that most often arise between spouses: the division of the spouses’ property and the death of the business owner, which inevitably triggers the inheritance process. These events may lead to the appearance of new, usually unwanted owners (one or more) in the company.

Division of property of spouses

First of all, we will define what belongs to the common joint property of the spouses and is subject to division:

1. Shares in the authorized capital of limited liability companies (hereinafter referred to as shares in LLC), shares in joint stock companies (hereinafter referred to as shares), foreign companies (collectively hereinafter referred to as business) acquired during the marriage in the name of one of the spouses.
2. Shares in LLC acquired by one of the spouses before marriage, if investments were made during the marriage at the expense of the common property of the spouses or the property of each of the spouses, which significantly increase the value of the business
3. Shares in LLC acquired by spouses jointly during the marriage, shares of one company. Often, spouses jointly create / buy a business, registering it for each other in shares. The question arises: in this case, the business is jointly owned by the spouses or the spouses have established shared ownership?
4. Litigation disputes arise when one of the spouses during the marriage has disposed of his share in the LLC or shares and claims to divide the shares / shares of the second spouse in the case of business registration for the spouses in unequal shares or in inheritance cases.

The division of business between spouses can be carried out during marriage by concluding an agreement on the division of property or a marriage contract, a court ruling on the division of the spouses’ property or a decision to separate the share of the debtor spouse from the common property.

The division of the business between the former spouses can be carried out in all the listed ways, with the exception of the registration of a marriage contract.

Currently, the following legal instruments exist and can be applied to protect businesses from “family” risks:

1. The marriage contract.
2. Articles of Association.
3. Corporate agreement.
4. Will.
5. Joint will of the spouses.
6. Succession contract.
7. Hereditary fund.

Which of these legal instruments and in what combinations to use is up to the business owner. The task of the Grant Law Corporation attorneys is to draw the attention of the LLC member, client or shareholder to possible “family” risks and help to choose a reliable protective combination.