Separation and small business

hi,
I have been married for 14 years and have 2 children 11 and 9. We reside in Scotland.

My wife has had sporadic employment during the marriage but now is a SAHM. I have ran various companies and they have provided us with a good living. My concern is that one of these companies has a large cash surplus. As I am a shareholder of this limited company will she be entitled to a share of this asset ? Also, going forward will an accountant then 'project' the profits on this company so they can be shared ?

Also, we own outright a large house which is very expensive to maintain, heat, etc. My concern is that she will claim that this is the family home and that she should be allowed to stay there with the kids. The property is worth 550K and while I may have assets which would mean that she could get it in a settlement it would be very expensive for me to provide her with sufficient funds to pay for the upkeep.

Any help appreciated...

Kobie.

Welcome to Wikivorce.

There are four steps which should be considered before making a decision about the financial arrangements. Please note that matrimonial property is that which is accrued between the date of marriage and the date of separation.

1. Establishing the date of separation on which the married couple cease to cohabit as man and wife.

2. Identifying all the assets owned jointly or individually by a couple at the separation date including the house, furnishings, a car, pensions, savings and investments and any outstanding liabilities (mortgage, car finance, personal loans, credit card debts etc) in existence on the date of separation.

3. Determining any non matrimonial property by looking at the individual assets and seeing the circumstances in which they were acquired. Assets owned by either party before the marriage or those gifted or inherited are not matrimonial property.

4. Valuing matrimonial assets as at the date of separation, for example, by providing statements for savings, asking insurance companies for surrender valuations of endowments and pension providers for the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value. Endowment policies and pensions started before marriage are apportioned for the years of the marriage. It's best to have agreement before having the house valued by a Chartered Surveyor. The liabilities are deducted from the assets to provide the net value of matrimonial property.


Therefore, yes she would be entitled to a fair share of the business and its assets.

She would also be entitled to a fair share of the equity in the house - however under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 there is a general obligation to provide support "as is reasonable in the circumstances" by a husband and wife to each other, this is known as aliment. It wouldnt be unreasonable of her to expect you to continue supporting her during the separation, ie by helping with the running of the family home as she has been financially dependent upon you for a large part of your marriage (so she can stay at home and look after your children).

Hi Rubytuesday just read your post which is very interested and informative. Also very worrying for me. I just hope the law in England is somewhat different to Scottish Law I beleive it is. I am in court on monday trying to overturn a false share sale of my husbands company. He incorporated the company 2 yrs after marrying and was M.D. Six weeks after seperating he alledgedly sold his shares to his parnter and best friend for a mere pittance then declaring he was just a mere employee of the company on 18 k a year. A forensic accountant was appointed and single joint expert 2 years ago. And to date they will not give him the information he requires for a true valuation. I had my own home when met ex he lived there with me until separation. He did not contribute one single penny to mortgage bills etc. He also had 3 rental properties which he bought before he met me. I have lost my home just to pay my legal fees and to date all I receive is £16 a week from C.S.A.!! He really is putting his middle finger up to the legal system and to date has got away with it. Are you saying that I will not be able to have share of the rental properties as they are not matrimonial assets. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hi

Dizzybee,
while you might not be able to share in the value of the asset - would you not be able to share in the rental return ? Unless he has these wrapped up in a company any profits will appear as income, which would be fair game...would it not. I am new to this so could be completly wrong.

Rubytuesday,
My company is just a vechile for me to bill clients - it has no tangible assets with the exception of a few laptops etc.
The profilts are quite high so if an account uses standard valuations at say 3x profit then I am in real trouble.
I must say that this is a pointless exercise as I will just close the company down and start a new one - so technically it has no value expect for the current bank balance and if that gets split then how can I be expected to provide for her and the children going forward.

Also, if ISA's, endowments etc were started before the marriage but payments made during the marriage are they deemed as a 'marital' asset ?

RubyTuesday are you a solicitor based in Edinburgh ?

Rgds
Kobie.

Hi Kobi Just spoke to a friend in Fife. Thankfully she tells me the law is quite different.As for the rental properties I have been told there is a loophole with C.S.A. I cannot claim any of the income! My ex put forward a "Net Asset" valuation of his company shares. i.e. as you have just said a few computers and office furniture. Ha Ha Ha worth diddly squat. He was winning contracts all over the world worth millions! I have to tell you this did not wash with the judge and a forensice accountant was appointed to investigate. My ex even tried to devalue the company six months before we even seperated. All I can say Kobi is be very careful with just "closing down the business" judges have seen it all before. You would not want to go down the path that I have just gone down with legal fees that cost me my home. Is it not possible you could not mediate over this and come to some solution? Is she a reasonable person. By the way I wouldnt have wanted any of my husbands business I just asked him to pay my 50K mortgage and that would have been the end of it. This man just didnt want to part with a single penny. A normal man would have grabbed his cheque book with that proposition.!