Lessons You Can Take from a Billionaire's Divorce

 Posted on January 12, 2019 in Family Law

Lessons You Can Take from a Billionaire's DivorceAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos is headed for divorce with his wife after 25 years of marriage. Given that he is the richest man in the world, it may be the most expensive divorce the world has seen. If they follow the standard equitable division of marital property, his wife could receive around $68 billion in assets. Your divorce will not have this extreme level of valuable assets, but you can learn what to expect from a high-asset divorce by watching his case.

Business Assets

The public question about Bezos’s divorce is how it may affect Amazon. Bezos founded the company after he was married, which means that his ownership of Amazon is marital property. There are several possible outcomes because of this:

  • His wife could obtain a share of ownership of Amazon;
  • She could sell her share to another party, possibly disrupting the company’s balance of power; or
  • Bezos could pay billions of dollars to purchase her share of the company.

Any business owner going through a divorce must weigh similar decisions, though most will have much less money at stake. Your business is a marital property unless you created it before your marriage and have kept its finances separate from your marital finances. It is important to maintain control of your business after your divorce, but you will need to give your spouse other valuable assets as compensation.

Prenuptial Agreement

Bezos reportedly does not have a prenuptial agreement with his wife. Creating a pre- or postnuptial agreement can save time on negotiations in a high-asset divorce by dividing marital properties in advance. For instance, Bezos could have included a section in his prenuptial agreement that said that he would keep all of his ownership interest in Amazon in exchange for other assets. You will likely have numerous personal properties that you can divide through the agreement. Finally, the agreement can determine whether your spouse will receive spousal maintenance after the divorce. All of these issues are easier to decide in advance, instead of when the emotions of your divorce make negotiating more contentious.

Contact a Kane County Divorce Attorney

You may not be a billionaire, but your marital assets are just as important to you during your divorce as they would be to anyone else. A Geneva, Illinois, divorce attorney at Geneva Family Lawyers understands the value of your marital assets and will help you protect the properties that are most important to you. Schedule a free consultation by calling 331-588-6611.

Source:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/tech/jeff-bezos-divorce-amazon/index.html

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