Business Owners and Entrepreneurs: Protecting and Valuing a Business in an International Divorce

Family law · 5 min read · By Olivia Uzan

For a founder, a company is not just an asset; it is a life’s work, a source of income, and often an identity. When a marriage ends, that business can suddenly become the most contested item on the table, and in a French-American divorce, the questions multiply. Is the company “yours” or “ours”? What is it worth? And how do you divide something whose value may be locked inside it?

Yours or shared? It depends on the regime

The first question French law asks is whether the business is personal property or shared property. If you built or bought the company before marriage, or under a separation-of-property regime, the business itself typically remains yours. Under a community regime, the answer is more nuanced. Shares acquired during the marriage may be shared, and even where the business is treated as personal, the community may still be owed a compensating payment, a récompense, if shared income or funds helped grow it.

This is a crucial and often misunderstood point: a spouse who never set foot in the office may still have a financial claim on the value the company gained during the marriage, without becoming an owner or a manager.

How French practice values a business

France does not run divorces through the same aggressive, discovery-heavy process Americans expect. Instead, the untangling of finances is typically handled by a notaire, a specialized legal officer who inventories assets and debts and computes the balancing figures. Where the parties disagree on value, a court can appoint an independent expert to assess the business. That expert will look at more than the balance sheet, including profitability, assets, and, where relevant, goodwill and clientele, the intangible value of a customer base or professional reputation.

Value on paper versus cash in hand

The hardest problem in a business divorce is rarely the number; it is the liquidity behind it. A company might be “worth” a great deal, yet the owner may have little cash to hand a departing spouse their share. French practice offers tools to bridge this gap, including buyout arrangements where one spouse keeps the business and compensates the other, sometimes with a balancing payment spread over time. The goal is to avoid forcing a sale that destroys the very value everyone is fighting over.

The cross-border layer

For a business with operations, revenue, or shareholders in both France and the U.S., valuation and division become genuinely intricate. Currency, differing accounting norms, minority-shareholder issues, and cross-border tax on any transfer all come into play. The order in which steps are taken, and the country in which they happen, can materially change the after-tax result.

Consider Élodie. She founded a design studio in Paris two years before marrying Ryan, an American. During the marriage, the studio expanded into the U.S. market, funded partly by the couple’s shared savings. On divorce, the studio remains Élodie’s, but because shared funds fueled its growth, the community is owed a compensating sum, and an expert must value the enlarged, two-country business. With planning, Élodie keeps her company and buys out Ryan’s financial claim over three years, rather than selling to a stranger.

Protecting the business before trouble starts

Founders can do a great deal in advance: choosing a protective matrimonial regime, keeping business and personal finances rigorously separate, documenting the source of any funds injected into the company, and, for the internationally mobile, coordinating French and U.S. arrangements. The best protection is almost always put in place long before a divorce is contemplated.

If your net worth is tied up in a company, protect it with a strategy built for two legal systems. Contact us for a confidential consultation.

This article is general information and not legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a qualified lawyer.

Olivia Uzan

English-speaking attorney in Paris · Admitted to the Paris & California Bars