Date: 22 Jul 2021

Webinar for Matrimonial Lawyers: Factors affecting businesses in a post COVID-19 world – valuation, tax, liquidity and solvency

We are now well into our second year grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our vocabulary has been extended to include new words and phrases – social distancing, shielding and, of course, Zoom, and our approach to business valuations has also had to adapt (as have businesses themselves).

While we all hope the end is in sight to COVID related disruption there will be an ongoing impact on many businesses and their owners. Of course, there have been winners as well as losers, and it is necessary to establish the extent to which changes arising from COVID-19 are here to stay.

On top of this uncertainty there is much speculation about changes to the UK tax regime, primarily arising from the strains on the public purse as a result of COVID, which could significantly impact matrimonial assets.

One of the current challenges for matrimonial lawyers lies in the need to assess the impact of this uncertainty in establishing a value for business interests, concluding on liquidity and understanding how changes to the tax regime could affect their clients.

On 22 July 2021, Gavin Pearson (Head of Forensic Accounting & Investigations at Quantuma) chaired a webinar to discuss these issues with colleagues Kate Hart, an expert in matrimonial business valuations and Yin Lee, insolvency practitioner and Daniel Sladen, a tax specialist.

This webinar covered:

the impact COVID-19 has had on the valuation process, including how risks, uncertainty and changes in financial performance impact business valuation;
real life examples of how we have dealt with these factors in recent valuations;
tax considerations, including views on the rumours circulating about future changes to tax policy; and
the impact of COVID-19 on business liquidity and how this may change in the coming year.

An an insightful webinar with plenty of relevant and topical information for family lawyers.