Valuing luck in a business caught up in divorce
In most states, the active appreciation of a premarital asset is includible in the marital estate while passive appreciation is not.
For a divorce, how many components are there in goodwill?
In divorce cases, it may be necessary to carve up goodwill because, in many jurisdictions, enterprise goodwill is marital property, but personal goodwill is not.
How to support subjective areas of valuation
Gone are the days when you could support your opinion by simply saying, “It is based on my professional judgment.”
Tricks of the trade in detecting rigged valuations
Did you ever read a business valuation report where you knew the valuation was rigged to obtain a higher or lower value?
A Dozen ‘Don’ts’ to Help Survive a Divorce Engagement
The nuances of divorce valuations and testifying in court create difficulties that make divorce engagements especially challenging.
BVU News and Trends March 2019
A monthly roundup of key developments of interest to business valuation experts.
‘Essentials’ track offered at National Divorce Conference
Valuation experts have a lot of sessions to choose from at the National Divorce Conference in Las Vegas May 8-10.
Pratt’s Stats/DealStats Market Analysis Survives Appeal by Owner Spouse
Appellate court finds no error in trial court’s adoption of market-based value determination by husband’s expert; expert acknowledged this was not the preferred method to value the small company, but company’s problematic financials and uncooperative attitude “compelled” use of this approach.
Hultz v. Kuhn
Appellate court finds no error in trial court’s adoption of market-based value determination by husband’s expert; expert acknowledged this was not the preferred method to value the small company, but company’s problematic financials and uncooperative attitude “compelled” use of this approach.
Special workshop on TCJA and divorce engagements
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) affects practically everything in valuation, especially in divorce engagements.
Valuation experts should not practice law
One of the pieces of advice you’ll undoubtedly hear at the National Divorce Conference in Las Vegas May 8-10 is that a valuation expert should not practice law without a license.
For goodwill, sometimes simpler is better
In last week’s BVWire, we covered a divorce case in which the husband’s valuation expert used the multiattribute utility model (MUM) framework for separating personal and enterprise goodwill.
In court, a picture is worth a thousand numbers
For an appraiser to be a good expert witness, he or she must be able to explain highly technical and complex financial concepts in a simple way.
Tip for finding hidden assets in divorce
Parties to a divorce often play hide-and-seek with assets so the valuation expert often has to help ferret them out.
Agenda released for 2019 AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference
The agenda is now available for the National Divorce Conference to be presented by BVR and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) in Las Vegas, May 8-10, 2019.
Can a nonprofessional business have personal goodwill? Arkansas court explains
Arkansas is one of the many states that differentiate between enterprise goodwill and personal goodwill. The former is marital property and divisible at divorce; the latter is not. A question that has come up in recent years is whether the owner of a nonprofessional business can claim personal goodwill whose value is excludable from the marital estate.
Save the date! 2019 AAML/BVR National Divorce Conference
BVR has joined forces with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) to present the National Divorce Conference in Las Vegas May 8-10, 2019.
Arkansas court clarifies law on personal goodwill in a nonprofessional business
In divorce cases, Arkansas has followed the rule that enterprise goodwill is marital property but personal goodwill is not.
2017’s Top Business Valuation and Damages Cases
BVLaw’s selection of the most educational cases of 2017.
Tenn. appeals court muddies the waters regarding use of DLOM in divorce valuation
So much for clarity. A recent Tennessee appeals court decision hinged on the issue of whether a marketability discount was appropriate in the valuation of the husband’s interests in three real estate development partnerships. In reviewing the trial court’s analysis, the appeals court suggested that the lower court misunderstood the principle behind DLOM but ultimately upheld the lower court’s findings. The resulting decision leaves valuators in a pickle as to when to apply the discount and at what rate.
Why Bankruptcy Court declines to be bound by divorce valuation
Following the divorce, the husband filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and asked for confirmation of his plan. The issue was whether the plan could meet the liquidation test applicable under the Bankruptcy Code’s section 1325(a)(4). In essence, the test requires that creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy receive present value payments that are at least equal to the amount the creditors would receive in a Chapter 7 case.
Florida court resists call for bright-line rule on active-passive appreciation
In this age of entrepreneurship, valuators working on divorce cases often run into the issue of active and passive appreciation. But this issue not only comes up in the context of one spouse's ownership of a business that qualifies as separate property, as a recent Florida appeals court ruling shows. The case involved the husband's separate ownership of stock in a company for which he worked and the stock's substantial appreciation in value during the marriage. The wife asked for a rule "that all appreciation of the stock of a company for which a spouse works is a marital asset."