I need some opinions?

I was with a girl for 5 years, we were never married but we had a business together which became an issue because it was all in her name although I was told to call it "ours". I did all of the physical work, while she took care of the paperwork end of things. We had a fallout of sorts, some over business stuff, some personal. What I want to know is this, while the business was in her name, we never came up with a solution to ease anyones fears over either me being able to walk away and leave her hosed or for her to just shut me out and take it all away. What would have been the best way to prevent this? Me to just take her word for it, her to take my word that I wouldn't just up and leave her, or for us to have a contract drawn up so that neither could hose the other. What would have been the best way for us to do business together that would have left us both feeling comfortable with the situation. Thanks for any input....

being married wasn't an isue, the business was started long before we ever considered being married.

It is not wrong of her to not want a paper trail. She is only doing what is in her best interest. It is naive of you not to insist on it.

Married or single, it is always wise to have a written contract unless by law you are in the stronger position without one.

The one in the stronger position will alway make the argument that if you loved me, you would trust me. Only fools and the naive will accept such an argument.

well, you should of had the business license drawn up in both or your names. If your not written down on any owners paperwork then the only thing you could do would be to try and sue for some type of compensation. You could also just start another business doing the same thing, but put it in your name.

You should have been married. Then you would have been committed to each other and to the doing of your business.

ALWAYS have a contract drawn up be sure anything you do is written down you always want a paper trail without one you will lose

business is business, you should have some legal paperwork to cover these issues regardless of your relationship with your business partner. that way it avoids a lot of problems and bad feelings later on when things don't go well.

Why are you looking for somebody to blame? You both made mistakes but that is normal. What should have happened is that you both tried to fix them rather than looking for somebody to blame.
None of these problems are about one person being responsible for everything but are about two people who should be looking for solutions instead looking for absolution from blame and making sure it is the other persons fault.

In the future hire an accountant and a real estate agent when you purcahse a business,document all the money you contribute to the business the purchase of it and how much you put on the down payment etc and verbal aggreements put them on paper and have them sign and most importantly have your name on the contract or lease or deed......good luckl

That's what contracts are for. Everything about a business is a legal issue, from every single point of view. If you bought a home together, you never would have let everything be a verbal agreement - you would have educated yourself about the legalities of owning a home together without being married. A business is even more legalities so the answer is contracts, lawyers - next time.

When you decided to start this business together but only in her name, that should have signaled her and you to decide what papers should be done in order to protect the other. Lets face it in this world unless your married, nothing is promising. So I would say that a contract of some sort to protect each of you.

I am starting to get into this with my husband and I plan on having a contract writen up because that way if anything happens we still have our business contract to fall back onto. Plus we can't fight over it in a divorce because it is looked at as a business purchase not marrital property. If you wanted to you could still have a contract written up this way there is no question in the future. And as a business partner I would want nothing less than to have proof of what I own if something goes wrong. Think about that, if she gets sued by someone they can come after the intire business but if you had a contract saying that she only owned half of it they could only take that half. Contract always have a contract.

Some documentation that it is indeed a partnership would have been the best way to start. It would have been a wise investment to have an attorney draw up the papers and file them with the court so that the partnership would be recognized and everyone would know how much is owned by whom. This way, even if personal problems arise, the business that you helped build can't be snatched from under you. Otherwise, you are unprotected. She could cut you out, hire someone to do the physical work, and just keep rolling along meanwhile, you would get nada for your time and effort.

OK , My ex and I ran a company for 7 years, Like your situation the bussiness was in my name under my tax ID. We both shared the physical labor part and equally sharedthe paper work. What would have been best was angreement as to whoes share is whos all in all. I ended up with a name that had a good reputaton and he ended up with a good client list. When we should have really been abel to maintain the bussiness togeather regardless of our relationship. Business is business, policy, procedures and a paer trail are a neccesity!

Business and relationships seldom make it in this world. What happened has happened let it go, and vow to yourself to never get into this situation again. You could sue her for 1/2 , but you didn't have your name on anything. You possibly could have your clients write letters stating your parts of the deals with them. Present to a lawyer, and go from there. It's a long shot, but letters go a long way at times. Sounds like she just used you, to get what she wanted. Call it a day, and start new.

There is such a thing as a contract that could have been written between you two.

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It is always easier to resolve issues in good terms. When a relationship is in good terms it is easier to prevent this type pf problems. When a relationship is on bad terms, this issues become a part of the problem an not a part of the solution. Always think what can I do now that would prevent me to suffer if things go bad. There are several ways to go. Contracts are good. When something important comes around like, settle on whose name will it be and why. Lawyers are better prevent problems than resolving problems.

Have a contract set up by a lawyer.

Consider this a lesson well learned hint, Never,ever start a business with anyone, friend or not this is just a bad idea. But since you did it anyway you should have definetly had papers drawn up to protect both parties.

well you should have had a contract drawn up by lawyer i am not sure what you can do now. if you dont' have name on it maybe you could leave but i am sure she'd get you for soemthing so better then that take half o it claim and get some thing out of it.

The best thing to do was to have put the Company in Both of your names equally. For the Company to make it all partys have to be involved.

Something in writing is always the best situation in all situations concerning love and money. We get into a relationship and think we are so in love that this person would never do anything to hurt me but let me tell you when the situation changes and one party is either hurt or bitter it will get ugly and before you know it the S*** is hitting the fan and you will wish you had something binding in court. Long after the dust settles and everyone can see clearly we realize what childish like behaviors that came bursting out that you didn't even know where there but they are so cover both your butts.

First and foremost, business needs to be handled with objectivity instead of emotion. With that being said it is imperative to have any business agreement in writing. This agreement needs to entail who the owners of the business are and the percentage of ownership of the business (ex 50/50, 40/60) each owner has, how the profits will be divided and what will be the fate of the company if the owners decide they are no longer interested in having ownership (will it dissolve or will other owner(s) have the opportunity to buy out the exiting party's interest in the company). This needs to be done at the inception of the business because everyone is calm and emotions aren't high. If you aren't able to come up with a fair arrangement for everyone at the beginning of the partnership; you are probably better off in not going into business with them in the first place.

Good luck and I hope you are able to resolve this matter fairly.

You answered your own question. Yes you shoul have had an written agreement. No ones word is going to stand up in court. It needs to be a legal binding document. You live and you learn!!

If there are pre-nups and post-nups why cant you now go to a lawyer and get a contract written between the two of you. Just having something in writing may ease some of the tension. You then could both relax and get back on the focus of making the business work. It would be better if you had any type of documentation of your contribution of physical work. They say hind sight is 20/20 but you can use it to set the tone of how it goes from here. Good luck