The family business, divorce and property division rules

Family businesses are of great importance to Sweden's economy, making up a significant proportion of all associations and existing in all sizes as well as in all sectors. In family businesses, family issues have a major impact on business issues. For example, the owner's family often plays a significant role in day-to-day operations. The family situation is thus closely linked to the business opportunities. At the same time, divorce statistics speak for themselves: about half of all marriages end in divorce. Taken together, the importance of family businesses and the bleakness of divorce statistics represent an important but relatively unexplored problem area. This leads to the question: What is the impact of divorce on family businesses? In the absence of a prenuptial agreement, the shares are included in the division of property upon divorce. This may result in a former spouse divorcing the ownership of the business. If the new owner is instead bought out, this will ultimately entail costs for the company. The project aims to investigate how companies are affected by divorce in the owner's family and how the family handles the process both from a legal and business perspective. A deep understanding of the subject is created through the interdisciplinary approach and empirical research in the form of case studies. The results contribute with new knowledge that can support family business owners and their advisors and provide a basis for future policy measures.