Triple Play is a weekly NJBIZ feature that asks top executives in New Jersey to talk about three things related to their industry.
Richard H. Weiner is the managing shareholder of Hackensack-based law firm Aronsohn Weiner Salerno & Kaufman P.C.
We asked Richard to identify three effects on a company when a partner or shareholder goes through a divorce.
- Other partners and shareholders can be impacted when the company’s equity/value becomes an asset subject to distribution in the divorce. The value attributed to an individual’s equity interest by a forensic accountant/business appraiser for divorce purposes could be very different from the company’s “book value,” or from a value to a third-party purchaser in an outside sale.
- The obligation for a company to produce information about both the entire business entity and its fellow shareholders/partners is always an ongoing concern because, generally, whether it’s a minority or majority partner/shareholder involved in a divorce, the company will be obligated to produce relevant financial information.
- The company can challenge the scope of the request by divorce counsel for production of both company and fellow shareholder/partner information. The entity’s counsel can make application to the court to suppress all or parts of a subpoena that had been served on the company requesting this information and documentation, particularly if it is for potentially confidential or privileged information, or if the request is over-burdensome.