Any lawyers out there?

[happyfeet245]

Hi, I'm posting for traffic and have also posted on the divorce page.

I'm about to begin a very painful divorce from my narcissistic husband and would really appreciate some advice.

We have been together for 11 years, married for five, we have two children together. My husband started his business in 2011, I didn’t invest monetary wise but worked for free for a year or so to enable him to begin the business and offered him the reassurance and support that he could live with me should the business fail. Once he could afford to pay me i then took on a salary, became a shareholder and worked long hours into the night with two small children.

Four years ago I left the company but continued to take out a shareholder salary. The clause in my shareholder agreement says that should we divorce I would have to sell my share back at their nominal value. Does anyone know if I would be entitled to any money from the business?

OP are you in England, Wales, Scotland or NI? I believe the law differs on this depending on where you are in the UK.

Thank you for your reply, yes we're in England.

I am a lawyer but not a family lawyer.

I imagine the clause is there so that the business can continue to run without you potentially blocking things for spite. So I think the clause is probably valid (assuming you have an entire agreement clause etc in it). But a family court would take in the value of the businesss when dividing up the assets and it may mean the business has to be sold to a third party so you can receive what you are financially due.

Ps what do you mean you took out a shareholder salary? Do you mean dividends? Be careful that a lawyer doesn’t think this is tax evasion which is illegal. If you weren’t working in the business you can’t take a salary - just dividends. If you took out a salary that is illegal and your solicitor would have to report it as tax evasion - so be careful how you phrase it and what you say.

Thank you for your advice. Yes, I took a shareholder dividends.