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In an unpublished decision, the Superior Court recently declined an invitation to rewrite a marital settlement agreement in order to avoid the possibility of future disputes over the use of funds committed to a children’s trust. In Hvidzak v. Hvidzak, No. 37 WDA 2012 (February 22, 2013), the Father and Mother entered into a marital settlement agreement in which they agreed to establish two trusts for the benefit of their […]

Last month the Wisconsin Supreme Court weighed in on two issues that are important to family lawyers and their clients who operate professional practices like physicians, lawyers, dentists and accountants. In Marriage of McReath, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that “saleable” goodwill would be considered marital property, in a case where a dentist argued that “personal” goodwill should not be counted as part of the marital estate. The Court also […]

Last year I had the privilege of attending the BVR/Morningstar Summit on Best Practices in Business Valuation in Divorce, which will be held this month in Chicago. Unfortunately I have to miss it this year as I will be visiting my new niece in San Diego. They will be discussing the latest developments in business valuation and complex financial issues in divorce, including the following summary of a double-dipping decision […]

The Court noted that there is no statutory definition of “income” for alimony cases in California, and it was unclear whether retained earnings could be properly categorized as “income” for alimony purposes.

In Blazer v. Blazer (No. DR 38292, Aug. 25, 2009), the California Court of Appeals discusses the excess earnings method and, in particular, the myriad ways to distinguish personal from enterprise goodwill.

The Seventh Circuit held that the salary earned by a CEO of a privately-held business (including a $17 million year-end bonus) was neither excessive nor a disguised dividend.