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Local News
7 June 2011
Tweet of the month – The Business Magazine, May 2011
HW, Chartered Accountants, present a series of articles based around Tweets appearing on their Twitter pages. This month Rodney Style, partner, considers one particular aspect of:‘Take positive steps to help your business’
2011 will be a trying year for many businesses for the most obvious reason of the troubled economic times in which we find ourselves. Here I want to focus on one concern which we deal with as accountants, which is no doubt exacerbated by issues like the economy, and that is divorce.
For business people who find themselves faced with the upsetting prospect of divorce - and the emotional turmoil that often accompanies it - being positive can be very hard. However, there are some steps that can be taken to make the process less stressful, including arming yourself with knowledge on the various financial issues involved as soon as possible. Forewarned is forearmed!
Business owners will need to consider:
- The value of your assets as a couple
- Who gets which assets?
- Should you remain shareholders in the business after divorce or should one party buy out the other?
- Are there sufficient cash funds to enable the business to carry on or does it need to be restructured?
Valuing interests in businesses is not easy at the best of times and a divorcing couple may find that different methods are applied when considering the values of minority stakes in the business, and no discount offered.
Sorting out maintenance from one spouse to the other is another challenge, especially when the income of the main earner is significantly variable. One solution is to provide a mechanism in the Court Order to vary the maintenance up or down, dependent upon the level of income of the payer, to avoid going back to Court each time.
Finding useful solutions to the range of other financial issues thrown up by divorce will almost always require professional help from an experienced accountant and it is better to tackle things early on.
For details of Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition 2011, visit www.hwye.com or follow us on Twitter @HWYE2011 and Facebook: search for Haines Watts HWYE.
