North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Tagged with business valuation

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Maiwald v. Maiwald, 2022-NCCOA-321 (unpublished) (2022)

 

In North Carolina, Equitable Distribution (ED) cases will classify, value, and distribute marital assets in a fair way. One major component is classification, as separate property (typically property not acquired during the marriage) is not distributed. If a party owns a business, however, even if the business was started before the marriage, it may have a significant marital component. If the business is marital, how do you value it? Value matters a lot. In distribution, the court will presume a 50/50 split and will also try not to split a business. (The record of ex-spouses working well together is not good.) So a bad valuation could result in a lopsided division. Courts will sometimes require the use of a certified business appraiser or business valuation expert. Continue reading →

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Stowe v. Stowe, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2020).

In North Carolina, Equitable Distribution (ED) is one of the mechanisms by which former spouses separate their personal and real property. What if the during the marriage one party opens a business? Unlike other forms of property, businesses have reputations that are carefully cultivated, patrons, and other intangibles that make the business more valuable than what can be accounted for on paper. Courts call this factor Goodwill. An expert witness may testify as to how to arrive at a value for Goodwill. In the case below, we explore how one court handled expert witnesses for Goodwill for an insurance company. Continue reading →