Two guys build a plumbing company together. Best friends for 40 years.

$12M business. Split 50/50.

Partner gets divorced at 64. Ugly. Wife cheating. He’s devastated.

Divorce settlement: She gets 30% of the business. He keeps 20%. His partner still has 50%.

Now there are three owners. Ex-wife holds the swing vote on everything.

He wants to sell to his partner’s son who’s been running it for 10 years.

Ex-wife votes no. “I want market price. Outside buyer.”
She’s already talking to private equity. They’ll gut it and flip it.

The son loses everything he’s built.

The buy-sell agreement? Written in 1987. Says nothing about divorce.

No life insurance funding. No valuation updates. No divorce triggers.

Just says “in the event of death or disability.”
Divorce wasn’t death or disability.

He’s 64. Healthy. Could live another 25 years watching his ex-wife destroy what they built.

Him to his partner: “How could you let this happen?”

Partner: “I didn’t think she’d get any of the business.”
40 years of friendship. Ended by a divorce attorney who read their buy-sell in 20 minutes.

Being a lawyer is professionally managing problems you didn’t create.