In January 2015, Harold Hamm, who has been embroiled in a spectacularly complicated divorce, wrote a $975 million check to his ex-wife to settle their property division dispute that began in 2012.
Mr. Hamm is the billionaire CEO of Continental Resources, a business he started in 1967. Mr. Hamm is said to be worth more than $8 billion, and at the end of their 25 year marriage, observers noted that the divorce might cost him $5 billion according to an article in Forbes.
The Hamms’ fortune is made up in part of stock in the business, Continental Resources, homes and securities, which were assessed by each side and after a lot of complex calculation, and bitter negotiations that eventually broke down, and contentious litigation the $975 million figure was what the court ruled that Hamm owed to his ex-wife. At first Hamm’s ex-wife Sue Ann Arnell refused the $975 million check saying that she was going to appeal because she was entitled to more money.
In a statement provided by her lawyers and included in a Reuters article, Arnell said, “I will not dismiss my appeal and do not feel that my right to appeal should be denied because I have accepted, in the interim, a small portion of the estate that we built over more than two decades.”
Business valuation in divorce
It seems fruitless to try to describe in a couple of paragraphs what business valuation experts and forensic accountants take weeks or even months to figure out. However, this is the over-simplified version of the process:
When a business, or even several businesses must be divided in a divorce, the attorney for each party hires business valuation specialists. These industry experts choose the appropriate approach for discerning the value of the business whether they use an income and asset capitalization approach, or a market based approach they consider all of the factors involved to come up with an approximate value of the business.
Division of business assets
The process of determining the value of the business can be quite intrusive and costly even if you don’t happen to be a billionaire oil tycoon. If the parties are on speaking terms they might sit down with their attorneys and come to an agreement on a settlement rather than disrupting business operations.
Once the valuation has been determined, the parties may come to an agreement on how the value of the asset will be divided. If the couple is unable to work out an agreement the court will rule on it.
The division of marital assets can be complex and bewildering. Contact Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC today at 615-391-4200 to schedule an in-person or video consultation with an experienced attorney.
Karla C. Miller has devoted her entire career to the practice of family law in Tennessee. She attended Auburn University and Nashville School of Law, and upon graduation in 1996, she opened her own law firm and has been assisting families throughout Tennessee since then. Learn more about Karla C. Miller here.
