Are you going through a divorce and wondering what will happen to any stock awards you or your spouse have been awarded?
In many cases, you or your spouse may have received stock awards from an employer. Those shares will vest over a period of years as opposed to all at once. What happens to the stock awards that vest after a divorce complaint has been filed if the vesting depends upon you or your spouse’s efforts on the job after the filing?
How Are Stock Awards Settled?
In order for a stockholder to seek to retain all of their stock in a divorce, the stock award must have been made for services performed after the complaint for divorce was filed, for future services, and not as a deferred compensation for prior efforts.
Understanding the Stock Award
If you have stock awards, or you believe your spouse has them, you should find out if the stock was intended to vest due to future services and not prior services. You will need to consult the stock plan to find out if the stock grants were designed to maintain a long-term interest of the employee in the overall success of the company. You may even need to obtain information from a supervisor directly.
Contact Rigden Lieberman
Determining the intention of your or your spouse’s stock awards and how this relates to your divorce can be very fact sensitive. Rigden Lieberman is here to assist; contact us today.
