This paper examines the concept of corporate divorce, where one or both of the separating parties is either a shareholder or a director of a private corporation. The paper discusses, with the aid of a fictional case study, issues relating to ongoing business needs, child or spousal support obligations, director and personal liabilities, equitable matrimonial property division, and contractual and corporate law mechanisms for resolving shareholder conflicts.

A checklist and precedents are included to help identify and mitigate a client’s personal liability and provide sample language for use in formal family law agreements.

This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s 52^nd Annual Refresher: Family Law program in Lake Louise on May 5–7, 2019.