Attorney
As a business owner, you understand that accounts receivable is not money in the bank. Yes, you’ve done the work, but there’s no guarantee that money will actually materialize.
At the same time, you probably have a sense of which amounts will eventually be paid. Your business decisions will take this into account. Should your divorce lawyer? If your attorney is Bob Matteucci, the answer is yes.
As a former business owner who holds an MBA as well as a law license, Bob knows that chunk of change sitting out in the ether is in play when you file for divorce. His take on how receivables get treated during divorce, and how they differ from future income, can save both spouses time, money, and unnecessary friction during settlement.
Receivables Are Property, Not Just Paperwork
If an invoice was generated for work completed during the marriage, the value it represents is generally subject to a 50/50 split under New Mexico’s community property law. These hypothetical funds must be disclosed, and are often part of settlement discussions.
This surprises a lot of clients. A physician with outstanding insurance reimbursements, a contractor waiting on a final project payment, a consultant with invoices out to several clients — in each case, that receivable has present value today, even though the cash hasn’t arrived yet.
The reason for this is simple: our state policymakers and family court judges don’t want business owners to artificially deflate their income or business value as divorce approaches in order to shortchange their soon-to-be-ex.
Receivables vs. Future Earnings: An Important Distinction
Once divorcing couples learn about the community nature of accounts receivable, they start asking questions about other future earnings.
As a rule of thumb, accounts receivable is tied to work already performed. Future earnings represent income for work not yet done. The first is typically a marital asset; the second generally is not.
However, every rule has an exception. And there are circumstances where a spouse can argue a contract for future work would not have been signed without their support. For example, many spouses will introduce their partner’s business to people in their broader network. In these cases, you can try to argue the future earnings should be considered marital property.
But this can make putting a value on the business (which is generally divided 50/50 as well) more complicated.
How This Connects to Business Valuation
Accounts receivable rarely stand alone. They’re one line item in a broader picture of what a business or professional practice is actually worth. A full valuation typically accounts for receivables reduced by collectability (some invoices, realistically, will never be paid), future earnings, accounts payable and other liabilities, and the business’s overall cash flow pattern.
Intangible assets like reputation and goodwill are layered in here as well. And it is these that are boosted in situations like the example above where a partner’s network led to a new contract. The goal is to account for the value both partners contributed without double-counting anything.
This is where Bob Matteucci’s business background gives clients a real advantage. He’s comfortable working through business valuations, cash flow analysis, and professional practice valuations directly with clients and their financial experts, rather than treating that analysis as something you hand off to an accountant or assessor without questioning their methods or results.
Serving Families with Dignity & Compassion
The point of treating accounts receivable properly isn’t nickel and diming the business, or making things more complicated so the divorce takes longer. It’s fairness. It’s finality. It’s building a settlement that lets both spouses move into their next chapter with financial clarity.
Because Bob understands both sides of this equation, he’s able to help couples in the Albuquerque area work through these details and move forward, whether he’s serving as a neutral mediator or as an advocate for one party.
If your divorce involves a business with outstanding invoices or receivables, it’s worth understanding your options before disclosure and settlement conversations begin. Schedule a meeting with Bob Matteucci to talk through your specific situation.