Tayo-
Depending on local divorce laws and the worth of the company / its assets, the man may well either need to give part of his ownership of his company to his ex-wife on separation, or an equivalent amount of money.
e.g., let's say Tayo Itd. is worth $500,000, and $150,000 of that is the value of the home. Tayo owns 5% of that, so $25,000. Let's say Tayo also has $10,000 in liquid savings in the bank, $20,000 in retirement savings, and $5,000 in debt. Tayo's total assets are $50,000 ($25K + $10K + $20K - $5K).
Let's also say Tayo's wife has no assets and no debt, because she simply let Tayo manage all the finances and pooled all her existing assets with Tayo's as soon as they were married.
If Tayo lives in a no fault divorce state, there's a good chance they split everything right down the middle to one extent or another if the divorce proceedings go to a judge (that is, Tayo and the former Mrs. aren't able to reach an agreement of their own accord first).
So, that $50K gets split down the middle - chances are, Tayo retains full ownership in his business, because judges usually prefer to keep businesses assets with the individuals who are managing them (unless your ex-wife also played a significant ongoing or founding role in Tayo Itd.; then it might be more complex), so you'd end up owing half of your total $50K assets to your ex-wife, or $25K.
In this case, she would NOT get the house, because the house is owned by the corporation, and you own only a small stake in the corporation. The only thing she can potentially get is your portion of the stake in the corporation, and even then that's unlikely - you're more likely to have to pay her in cash / savings / retirement accounts. Now, if Tayo Sr. decided to divorce Tayo's mom, then you might be looking at a real scenario where one or the other partner gets the house - Tayo Itd. may well have to sell off the house in order to properly split the assets between Tayo Sr. and Tayo's mom (or maybe just transfer the house out of the corporation, which is owned by Tayo's mom, to Tayo Sr.; or, alternately, Tayo Sr. gets a stake in the company if he was involved in it and prefers that to a liquid asset).
The best way of avoiding all of this is to place any assets you do not want to lose in divorce into a trust fund prior to marriage. In this case, you no longer own anything. This is the safest way of protecting assets you do not want to lose in marriage. You can also sign a pre-nuptial agreement in advance, but these are trickier and easier to be overruled in court on technicalities.
You can do the "family member owns most of the asset" thing like you're inquiring about here, but make sure you trust that family member (your mother's probably a safe bet)... you don't want to run into a "Well too bad, it's mine now!" situation... and also, keep in mind that when she passes on, which she'll probably do a few decades ahead of you because she's older than you, if her will isn't properly set up that asset you had her guarding may well be divided among multiple heirs, and if your country has a death tax in place you may be paying a heavy fee simply to retain possession of what was actually "yours" all along, as the ownership transfers from deceased mother to non-deceased you.
I'd recommend the trust over anything. A basic trust costs about $2,000 / year to run (you're paying the lawyer to maintain it), which if you have assets worth or generating anything over, say, $200K annually for instance, is probably a smart bet, even if you're about to marry a great gal you have a fantastic relationship with. Better safe than sorry.
Chase
