If you are a business owner, particularly if your business is well-established, you should develop a plan to protect your business in the event of a divorce. In the best case scenario, you entered into a prenuptial agreement regarding how to divide assets like the business in the event of a divorce. If not, and if your spouse is willing, you could consider a post-nuptial agreement that would cover how to divide the business in the event of a divorce.
If you decide not to sign a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement, you can still take some steps that would help protect your business in the event of a divorce in Florida. First, you should keep good financial records, and get an appraisal of what the business was worth as of the date of the marriage (if you owned it prior to marriage). You should try to cut down on the personal expenses that you pay for out of the business.
In addition, keep the amount that your spouse works in the business to a minimum. If your spouse works in the business regularly, he or she can claim that they were an integral part of building the business and are entitled to it in a divorce. You should also pay yourself a good salary, which can help prevent the spouse from saying there is a lot of excess money left over for him or her. Finally, try to avoid borrowing from your personal assets to fund the business – this can lead to the argument that the business is marital property.