Business Owner Prenuptial Agreement

New York is an equitable-distribution state, which means a court divides marital property based on fairness, not an automatic 50/50 split. A business you started before the marriage generally begins as separate property, but that protection erodes fast. If your spouse contributes labor, if profits are reinvested, or if the company's value rises during the marriage, a portion of that increase can be pulled into the marital estate. A business owner prenuptial agreement addresses each of those exposures in writing before the risk ever materializes.

This service fits founders and partners across Manhattan differently than a standard prenup. A Financial District trader with equity in a fund, a SoHo studio owner with a design firm, a Greenwich Village restaurateur, and a Tribeca tech founder each face distinct valuation and control questions. The agreement names your specific entity, records its value as of the wedding date, and states how appreciation, distributions, and any spousal contribution will be characterized. For owners with partners or investors, it can also keep marital claims from disrupting an operating agreement or buy-sell arrangement your co-owners rely on.

The alternative is silence, letting default New York law decide later. That path invites a forensic valuation, discovery into your books, and a fight over how much of your growth was 'marital.' Founders on the Upper East Side and in Murray Hill often assume their business is untouchable; it is not, without a written contract. The trade-off with a prenup is a candid conversation now, in exchange for removing that entire dispute from a future divorce. Handled well, it protects the company and preserves the relationship, because both partners sign with full disclosure and independent understanding.

Everything is handled remotely. Whether you're in Chelsea, Harlem, Battery Park City, or the Upper West Side, there is no need to visit an office and no court appearance is required. The attorney has practiced since 1991, 34 years, and drafts to New York's enforceability standards: written signed agreement, full financial disclosure, and adequate time before the wedding so no one can later claim coercion. Rushing the signing date is one of the most common reasons a prenup is challenged, so business owners are encouraged to start early relative to their wedding.