A book of business is “property” has value for equalization purposes

January 30, 2017

In this case, I represented a husband whose wife was a financial advisor with a book of business; a very large book of business. She took the position throughout the legal proceeding that the book of business was owned by the financial institution, and tried to rely upon her employment contracted with the institution that confirmed that the clients belonged to it.
This two week trial also dealt with other issues, but the main issue and the most financially significant, dealt with the wife’s book of business.
The trial judge accepted my argument that the wife’s book of business was indeed a very valuable asset that she could sell, and the judge attributed a “fair value” to this item of property for equalization purposes. Not only was my client successful at trial, he was awarded over $75,000 in costs! The link to the case can be found here.