Running your own business is exceedingly rewarding, but stressful. But when divorce arrives, that stress can become much worse. Preparation is the key to maintaining your business and keeping yourself grounded while dealing with the stress of divorce.
Tips to Keep Your Head in the Game
- Keep your finances organized. Consolidate your credit card statements, loan documents for your vehicle and your home, checking and savings account records as well as your investment accounts. Using software like Mint can help you ensure the accuracy of your financial status and help alleviate one of the major burdens of divorce for small business owners.
- You will now want to start dividing up joint accounts shared by you and your spouse. This is especially necessary for business accounts with both of your names. While you may trust your spouse enough to keep their name on the accounts, you do not want to be beholden to their whims, especially if the divorce is contentious. Don’t open yourself up to having your accounts emptied by a vindictive ex, lest you face serious problems with credit and new business debts. No matter who ends up keeping the marital home, you will want to get your name or your spouse’s off of the mortgage. There are only two ways to do this ”“ sell the home, or refinance in your name only. Divorce won’t get your name off of the mortgage and lenders do not care who lives in the home, only that they get paid.
- Once asset division has begun, you will want to take steps to protect yourself in the future. Leave your bank accounts in the past and make new ones in your name only. You will also want to request copies of your credit reports from the three major reporting agencies to look for errors, and dispute those.
- Get everything in writing. Running a business makes this step especially important. Verbal agreements are rarely useful in court, so ensure that you have a paper trail for all interactions between you and your spouse.
Divorce is stressful. Alleviate that stress by letting a Denver divorce attorney help you with the hard work.
