In the divorce process, sometimes more than the divorcing couple must prepare for the dissolution of the marriage. Any time that a divorcing couple owns a family business, or has interest in a business, that entity, too, becomes a central player in the process.

Business owners preparing for divorce need to focus acutely and accurately on business division, given the usually large stakes involved. Complexity can abound in determinations regarding proper valuation; who contributed time and money - and how much of each - to the business during the course of the marriage; whether an agreement exists that spells out the parties' collective understanding concerning the business at its inception or when the couple first married; what the rights and interests of the parties in the business will be following divorce; and a host of related questions.

A divorce can ensure the continuity of a business or destroy it. It can engage the divorcing couple in a good-faith collaboration concerning proper valuation and the respective marital interests of each of the spouses in the enterprise, or it can foster ill will and spur such illegalities as the material nondisclosure of business assets by one of the spouses.

An experienced family law attorney with sophisticated knowledge of business-valuation methods and property division - and experienced in asset identification and disclosure and the proper evaluation of a spouse's business contributions - can be an invaluable ally to a divorcing party seeking to ensure fairness in a business buy-out or other arrangement sought as a result of divorce.

Related Resource: www.businessonmain.msn.com "Interview: With Divorce, Who Gets the Business?"