Stock Options and Other Forms of Deferred Compensation
The granting of stock options has been a regular form of compensation for executives for many years. Recently, companies in competition for skilled individuals at all levels have instituted stock options as a form of deferred compensation to attract, retain and award employees.
Deferred compensation offers unique challenges to attorneys and CPAs representing their clients in a divorce. The complexities involved with the characterization, division and valuation of stock options in a divorce setting must be understood by the practitioner as well as their client.
While initiating stock options has become more significant and more common in the corporate world, there are still several unsettled issues when it comes to stock options in relation to the distribution of marital assets.
The purpose of this article is to address the issues of defining stock options, discussing alternative valuation methodologies and offering practice points for handling stock options in the context of marital litigation.
You can access a full copy of the article here. (PDF)
