Business Valuation in Divorce

When a marital estate contains an interest in a closely held company, a professional practice, or a partnership, the case usually stops being an argument about fairness and becomes an argument about a number. That number is produced by an appraiser using a method, applied to records one spouse controls, as of a date the court selects. Each of those three choices moves the result. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles these disputes. Call (888) 437-7747.

Method Drives the Number

An appraiser may capitalise earnings, look to comparable transactions, or net assets against liabilities, and the same set of books will produce materially different values depending on which approach is used and how it is applied. Where each side retains its own appraiser, the gap between them is usually explained by methodology rather than by arithmetic. Understanding which method fits the business, and why the other side chose differently, is the substance of the dispute.

Goodwill Is the Recurring Fight

Courts distinguish between enterprise goodwill, which attaches to the business and could transfer to a buyer, and personal goodwill, which belongs to the individual practitioner and generally cannot. How a jurisdiction treats that distinction affects whether a substantial part of a professional practice is divisible at all. Because the treatment differs between states, the same practice can produce very different outcomes depending on where the case is heard.

Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York all divide marital property by equitable distribution rather than by community property rules. That means a court weighs statutory factors rather than applying a fixed split, and the factors differ between the five. Nothing on this page describes a rule that applies identically in every one of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to sell the business?

Usually not. The common outcome is that the owning spouse retains the interest and the other receives offsetting value from elsewhere in the estate, or a payment over time. A forced sale is a remedy of last resort where no other structure works.

Which valuation date applies?

It depends on the jurisdiction and on the asset. Some states value active assets, whose worth depends on a spouse’s continued effort, at a date closer to separation, and passive assets nearer trial. The date is frequently litigated because it can move the figure substantially.

What if my spouse controls the records?

Discovery reaches the entity. Ledgers, distributions, officer compensation, related-party transactions, and tax filings are all obtainable, and incomplete production is addressed by motion. A pattern of withholding tends to damage the withholding party well beyond the discovery dispute.

About Mr. Sris

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., has practiced since 1997. He is a former prosecutor, and that experience shapes how he builds a documentary record. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His background at George Mason University in accounting and information systems applies to complex financial and technology-related cases, which is where a contested property dispute usually turns. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle these matters together, with the division of work set at the start of the engagement.

Speak With Mr. Sris

Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747. Bring tax returns, statements for every account, any agreement signed before or during the marriage, entity documents for any business interest, and a short written timeline. That material lets the first conversation move past intake and into the questions that decide the case.

Last updated: August 25, 2026

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law differs between states, and nothing here is a substitute for advice about your own circumstances. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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