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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | APRIL 24, 2003 SMART ANSWERS By Karen E. Klein Divorced, but Not From Reality Leaving a bad marriage is relatively simple. Protecting a new business from an ex-spouse is a bit more complicated
A: If your divorce is final, any new venture you embark upon, or property you acquire, should be safe from the claims of a former spouse, says Edward L. Winer, a family-law specialist with Moss & Barnett in Minneapolis. Your legal exposure is subject to the laws of the state where your divorce was granted, however, so you should consult with your attorney personally before you go forward. As a general rule, however, anyone who has been through a divorce should make a point of screening any new financial ventures with legal counsel, Winer says. "A person paying alimony, or still subject to the risk of paying alimony, may face postdivorce legal action to increase the amount of alimony if the new venture is successful," he says. So, just to be safe, talk to your lawyer before launching your new business. If you're still in the midst of a divorce, you would definitely want to get legal advice on whether it's advisable to expand an existing business or start a new one. It may be better to wait until the marital split has been finalize rather than run the risk of having to share new assets with a soon-to-be ex. Have a question about your business? Ask our small-business experts. Send us an e-mail at smartanswers@businessweek.com, or write to Smart Answers, BW Online, 45th Floor, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Please include your real name and phone number in case we need more information; only your initials and city will be printed. Because of the volume of mail, we won't be able to respond to all questions personally.  Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who specializes in covering covered entrepreneurship and small-business issues. Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | APRIL |
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