- Sherman Law LLP

 

 

 

Family Law

Divorce and its effect on Real Estate, Business & Estate Planning

 

 

Kitchener family law lawyers with over 40 years of expertise in real estate, business and estate planning as part of the divorce process

 

The social and emotional toll of a separation and divorce can have a significant effect on your business performance. Going through a separation often demands many hours of a person’s time, as you and your spouse will have to work through the details of your separation from valuating your net family property, to resolving issues of custody and access of your children.

 

These stress levels can often have a serious trickle-down effect on employees. These stakes can become even higher when both spouses are partners in the business, especially when a separation usually means the departure of a spouse who may have held a key role in the business.

 

Conflict can arise if a spouse attributes a decline in revenue around the time of the separation to business valuations, based on historical data that may no longer be achievable. If this matter ends up in court, the spouse’s personal and business affairs would become public records.

 

A well managed collaborative divorce and family law or mediation process can provide privacy and faster results. The financial disclosure of the parties and the separation agreement reached by the parties remains private.

  Illustration of couple dividing property

 

 

 

 

 

Are you an executive and business owner who is separating?

 

For those spouses who are executive and business owners, collaborative divorce and family law can be a valuable tool for conflict resolution because it can minimize the impact a divorce can have on their work, their employees, and the business performance. For high net-worth individuals with established businesses, the financial situation for both spouses can be complicated. One of the most challenging situations, in terms of both personal and financial implications is when spouses are also business partners, where the exit of one spouse can have a major impact on operations. In this regard, we suggest that spouses pro-actively prepare themselves upfront though marriage contracts, shareholder agreements, and comprehensive estate planning, in order to protect the business should divorce or death occur. However, there are also other ways to minimize the negative impact on both the individuals involved and their business.

 

Research from the Canadian Research Institute for the Law and Family (CRILF) indicates that couples who choose to avoid the courts and instead use alternative dispute resolution processes such as collaborative divorce and family law and mediation benefit from resolving their dispute quicker and lower with legal fees over the traditional litigation process.

 

Our Kitchener family law lawyers have the benefit of experience in related areas of family law, and as a result can advise our clients on matters related to the divorce proceeding, such as the rearrangement of complex business holdings, variations to estate planning, and issues affecting real estate.

 

 

 

 

Do you want to learn more about divorce and its effect on real estate, business, and estate planning?

 

For over 40 years, clients have trusted in our ability to explain more than simply their legal rights and obligations in a separation or a divorce. We focus on sustainable collaboration that leads to creative solutions and consensual dispute resolution. There are few family law problems that we have not previously assisted clients in resolving. We are confident that you will appreciate our professionalism and personalized service. To benefit from our knowledge and experience with respect to real estate, business, and estate planning and their effect as part of your separation or divorce, please contact 519-884-0034 or send us an email. Many of our clients are referred to us by former and current clients, as well as by lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors. We serve clients in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Stratford, Hamilton, London and surrounding areas.

 


 

Connect with a lawyer in our firm with expertise in this area

Aubrey J.  Sherman

  Aubrey J.  Sherman