When a married co-owner of a business gets divorce, can the former spouse ask for partial ownership of the business or company?
The answer to this question it depends on the state that you live in and the type of marital property law your state follows. If your state follows a community property law system (like California, Arizona, Nevada and others), then all earnings that are made (and property acquired) during a marriage are considered the property of the “community,” meaning both spouses. Upon a divorce, the community property is split between the two spouses (absent a contradictory and valid prenup), so a former spouse may ask for partial ownership of a business. In non-community property states, a spouse may still make a strong argument for being granted partial ownership of a business that the other spouse was a co-owner of. This is because property laws require that marital property be divided equally upon divorce. Because of these laws, a good buy sell agreement will adopt provisions that prevent former spouses from taking an ownership interest in the company on divorce from a co-owner. The agreements
