Joint business and separation

[Vikki87]

Hello. My husband and I are partners in a small business, we have a garage where my husband is the mechanic and I do all the paperwork side of things from home. We are currently separating and selling the marital home, we are on friendly terms...my husband has said that he will pay me £30 a week to keep doing my side of the business that usually takes me a few hours a week, obviously that is nowhere near enough to live on so I would have to get a full time job too which causes childcare issues as we have a 12 and 2 year old. I’m unsure as to whether as a partner in the business I would be doing the right thing legally and for the children’s future taking my husbands offer or if im entitled to take 50% of the profits etc or a bigger salary from our business. Thank you

[Peridot]

Hi Vikki87,
Sorry to hear of your separation but glad things appear to have remained amicable at the moment.

You say you have separated, are you intending on divorcing? In order to deal with the finances on divorce all the assets and debts of the marriage would be included and divided as fairly as possible bearing in mind the factors set out in s25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act here:- http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18/section/25 This would also include the business.

You can enter into a separation agreement until such time as you divorce (or not) which sets out the arrangements of how things will be divided. Again it should be agreed bearing in mind the s25 factors and you would probably need some legal advice on this to try and ensure that any agreement is far and likely to be enforced by the Court if you then proceed to getting a Divorce and finalising the financial aspects of the divorce.

As far as the business is concerned are you joint owners? Is this a partnership (in the business sense) and do you have any paperwork setting out how the business is owned by you both? If there is an agreement this may set out what happens if one of you leaves the business or partnership. In any event the business would be part of the matrimonial assets that would need to be considered when separating the finances.

If you can find any paperwork I would suggest you arrange a free half hour or reduced fee appointment with a family law specialist so that you can get things straight regarding what options there may be for you and your ex.

The age of the children is relevant particularly having a 2 year old, the costs of childcare are significant and they are still very young. When trying to separate the assets of the marriage everything is in the pot so to speak including house, savings, business etc as well as then looking at how it should be divided particularly when one parent is dealing with the children for example. There are a number of ways to achieve a fair split between you but you need to speak face to face with a specialist in my opinion so you can make a decision that works for both of you as far as you can and know what options there are to achieve this.

Here if we can help further with any pointers or explaining things further.