Three Ways A Forensic Accountant Can Help Your Divorce Team

If you are getting ready to go through a complicated divorce, your have probably spent a considerable amount of time ensuring that you have hired the best divorce attorney you can find. Once you meet with them, you may be surprised to find out that they may want to bring other people onto your team. In divorces that have complex financial portfolios, one of these suggested team members is often a Forensic Accountant. This person will be a valuable team member who will provide numerous benefits during the divorce process. 

What Is A Forensic Accountant?

A Forensic Accountant is a legal and financial expert that is able to analyze, interpret, and summarize complicated financial and business records. Their services are most often used during divorce proceedings to uncover, protect, and recover financial assets that one spouse may be trying to conceal from the other. 

How Will A Forensic Accountant Benefit Me?

Your Forensic Accountant will help to determine the value of your financial picture - When you are dividing marital assets it is not always as easy as splitting everything down the middle. If you own stocks, bonds, restricted stocks, vested and non-vested compensation, deferred compensation, pension plans, retirement plans, businesses, antiques, collectibles, and more, it can often be difficult to determine the value of these items. Should this value be what they are worth as of today, or what they will be worth once you reach retirement age? These are questions that can be answered by the calculations that will be performed by your Forensic Accountant.

Your Forensic Accountant will be able to testify as an expert witness - If the two of you do not agree on various financial issues, you can rest assure that your soon-to-be ex-spouse's attorney will have plenty of questions on how you came up with your settlement proposal. When you have a Forensic Accountant on your team, they will be able to testify on your behalf pertaining to your calculations, valuations, and everything else concerning your financial picture.

Your Forensic Accountant can help with the wording of complicated settlement agreements - Although your divorce attorney may be one of the best matrimonial law attorneys in the state, they often do not understand the long-term financial implications of some of the settlement offers they may put on the table, or those being proposed by the other side. Not only will your Forensic Accountant be able to help to calculate various financial angles prior to them being proposed, they will be able to help to ensure that the correct wording is used in the settlement agreement so that you will get the most benefit in the end.

Even if your attorney does not suggest that a Forensic Accountant needs to be added to your team, but you feel that you would benefit from one, ask your attorney (such as one from McKissick & McKissick) about hiring one. Your accountant may be able to find more than enough assets to pay for themselves.


Share