“It's a very 50/50 state, so it's a good state to get divorced in if you want to make sure you get half or you are worried about getting half,” Ara Zandieh, a family law attorney, said. 

This can significantly impact the financial outcome of divorces. Zandieh said that sometimes people come into the marriage with an asset they own, thinking that it’s theirs in the case of a divorce. However, this is not the case, as their partner is entitled to anything that was grown during the marriage.

Zandieh said the only way around this is a quitclaim deed, but Arizona case law — a Brown v. Brown claim — can often counteract this. 

“If you contributed your money or community funds towards the improvement or the increase in value of property, you're entitled to a reimbursement for half of that value that you put in during the marriage,” Zandieh said.

This legal framework is often what requires many couples to need a business valuator — and that is where Michael Sanborn, the owner of Arizona Business Valuations, comes in.

He said the first step is to understand the business, business industry and if the business split is mutual. “The courts a lot of times will hire us as a neutral valuator or both attorneys will accept us as neutral, because our job is to basically be neutral to see what the fair market value is,” Sanborn said. 

Sanborn said it's very important to understand a clients’ business, partnership and financial structures. Spouses usually disagree on the value of their business 100% of the time, as there are times where one may not understand the business and think the value is way higher than it actually is. 

“We always make the statement that mediation is like the wild wild west,” Sanborn said. “You're more risky when you're going to go into court, versus mediation, where you're able to just negotiate and figure out what the best deal is, and what we see is a lot of times stuff that is negotiated in mediation is usually what ends up being set forth.”

Sanborn said these kinds of business valuations are often more complicated than a typical business valuation because there are more questions, opinions and more attorneys and parties involved.

Business divorce and dispute attorney, Robert Royal said, “Let's assume the husband is the primary person that works at the business, then he will give the wife a payment so that he owns all the business, or vice versa.”

If needed, the court may set a fair value payment for the non-participating spouse as part of the divorce agreement, Royal said. Once the offset of their interest is paid in the divorce settlement, the other spouse becomes the sole owner of the business. 

Royal said couples typically undergo this process instead of selling their business, because the value of their business can be decreased due to the divorcing business partners. 

The financial and legal process can cause lots of frustration and negotiations. Experts advise married business owners to ensure they have the correct documentation and agreements in place in the case of a divorce.