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In Evenson, a recent decision of the North Dakota Supreme Court, the business which was implicated in a divorce action was an insurance agency. The business owner sold multi-peril crop insurance through local banks for which the owner had previously worked. Both valuation experts agreed that insurance agencies are generally valued by applying a multiplier to the agency’s gross commissions over a period of time. The wife of the insurance […]

The Supreme Court of West Virginia recently considered the enterprise goodwill of a professional practice in divorce proceedings in Helfer v. Helfer, 221 W.Va. 625, 656 S.E.2d 70 (November 2007). In Helfer, the business owner’s expert found that his chiropractic practice was worth $41,000, based on a capitalization of earnings. His wife’s expert found the practice to be worth $388,000 based on the excess earnings method. Neither of the experts […]

I may have mentioned this before on this blog, but it is striking to me how many accountants and valuational professionals regard court decisions as monolithic. At NACVA chapter meetings, I have heard CPAs say that “you must do this” or “you can’t do that” because of some court decision or IRS position. But we must not forget that all court decisions are, to some extent, fact-sensitive and case-specific. The […]

A recent Florida divorce decision, Erp v. Erp, considered the valuation of an RV dealership acquired by the husband and wife during their marriage. The dealership was organized as a subchapter “S” corporation, of which the husband and wife each owned 40% of the stock. Husband’s son from a prior marriage and wife’s son from a prior marriage each owned 10% of the stock, so that no decisions could be […]

Last week I attended the AICPA/AAML National Conference on Divorce, a summit of some of the brightest minds in business valuation and divorce. Many of the lectures were good, but the one that most captured my attention was Jay Fishman’s discussion of “standards of value.” He made the best argument I have heard why the divorce courts should not abandon the fair market value standard in favor of fair value. […]

Whether attacking or defending your expert’s business valuation in a divorce trial, it is important to know and avoid the eight landmines that can blow up your case: Reasonable Owner’s Compensation – A business valuation usually requires the expert to make adjustments to the subject company’s income statement. This process is called “normalization.” Normalizing the company’s financial statements permits the valuation expert to compare the subject company to other businesses […]