DIVORCE HEADQUARTERS NEWSLETTER       Issue #22,     May 2002 Know someone else going through the process? If you think they could benefit from this newsletter feel free to pass it on in it's entirety to them. "People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be."     - Abraham Lincoln Don't forget to mention DivorceHQ.com when contacting the divorce professionals listed on the site. In this Issue: Collaborative Law Personal Professional Goodwill:  Too Often Overlooked In Equitable Distribution Cases     by Grover Rutter CPA, CVA, BVAL Divorce Humor 1. Collaborative Law You may have heard of the newest trend in divorce, "collaborative law" and be wondering just what is it. In a nutshell it is a way of practicing law where the attorneys for both of the parties in a divorce agree to assist them in resolving conflicts or legal issues using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques and court proceedings. It takes a strong commitment on both sides to be honest and open in exchanging information, but if you and your spouse can agree to use collaborative law, it is a viable alternative to divorce litigation. You can find more information on collaborative divorce and attorneys that utilize it in their practice at http://www.divorcehq.com/collaborative.html The following is an excerpt from an article submitted by one of our professional members. For full text of all articles visit http://Divorcehq.com/articles.html 2. Personal Professional Goodwill: Too Often Overlooked In Equitable Distribution Cases         by Grover Rutter CPA, CVA, BVAL Recently, I attended a CLE seminar entitled: Equitable Distribution in Divorce Settlements in Ohio: Valuation, Tax and Other Issues. One of the speakers, a CPA with a valuation credential, was asked about the differences, for equitable distribution purposes, between entity/enterprise goodwill, and personal professional goodwill. His answer was that there is basically no difference between the two types of goodwill for purposes of equitable distribution in the state of Ohio. According to him, goodwill is goodwill, and therefore a marital asset. As a credentialed business valuator, I immediately had mixed feelings about his comments. I agree that in many cases, no attempt at analysis is made to divide goodwill into entity/ enterprise goodwill and personal professional goodwill. Entity/enterprise goodwill is the goodwill that attaches to the business enterprise. Conversely, personal goodwill is that goodwill that attaches to the persona and personal efforts of an individual. When no attempts are made to analyze and separately allocate goodwill into the separate components of personal professional goodwill and professional goodwill belonging to the entity, it appears that the courts have had little choice, but to consider any goodwill as business (entity/enterprise) goodwill. In these instances, the goodwill has generally been deemed to be marital property. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Grover Rutter CPA, CVA, BVAL is located in Findlay, Ohio. He has years of experience in the accounting, taxation, valuation and litigation arenas. After selling his CPA practice, he now dedicates his full time to business valuation and litigation support. He has considerable experience in the valuation of businesses for divorce purposes. 3. HUMOR I just read a report that stated that last year 4,153,237 people got married. I don't want to start any trouble, but shouldn't that be an even number?        -- Source Unknown