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Our Approach
We believe that if our client and their attorney are well-prepared and versed on the financial aspects of the pending divorce and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing spouse’s claims, then our client has a great chance to reach an amicable and fair agreement at mediation and avoid a costly litigation fees and costs.
Our Approach
If our client and their attorney are well-prepared and versed on the financial aspects of the pending divorce and the strengths and weaknesses of the spousal claims, then our client has a great chance to attain an amicable and fair agreement through negotiation and mediation, and thus avoid costly protracted litigation and limit the duress that accompanies an ending to a marriage.
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Determining the status of marital finances and wealth is a critical part of the divorce process. Distrust, anxiety, anger, and resentment by the parties to the divorce can lead to a contentious setting. The services of a forensic accountant can be invaluable in sorting through the beliefs, misconceptions and unreasonable demands of the husband or the wife.
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Our passion for Family Law Forensics, is to quickly evaluate the financial picture, conduct ourselves in a professional and efficient manner, advise our client and their attorney on the results of our work, and recommend fair and equitable solutions that may result in a prompt resolution to the divorce and a reasonable marital settlement agreement, instead of a costly trial.
Our goal is to be impactful and persuasive in guiding our client and their attorney with supportable facts and professional work that will withstand any scrutiny.
What is Forensic Accounting?
Forensic Accounting is an investigative form used to identify, analyze, and evaluate financial data using the knowledge of accounting and income taxes, auditing techniques and intuitiveness, and investigative skills. At DFA, we use state-of-the-art software programs and applications to compile and evaluate data and information. In many instances, we are tasked with studying and analyzing complex financial records and interpreting the data for use in divorce proceedings.
As forensic accountants, we perform the necessary procedures to provide our client with the peace on mind that marital assets are properly identified, valued and distributed, and the income of the parties is properly reported for purposes of calculating alimony and child support. To this end, we to assist legal counsel in their mission of ensuring that our mutual client is treated fairly and equitably.
However, when a spouse is not forthright, we will perform expanded procedures designed to: expose fraudulent financial affidavits and misstated mandatory disclosures; identify unrecorded income and assets; identify the diversion of assets and income; quantify the misuse of marital monies resulting from credit card spending on questionable activities and nonmarital purposes; and, investigate any other money-related issues that arise during the dispute.
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Retaining us as the forensic accountants in your divorce proceeding can lead to an equitable division of marital assets, establish a fair and reasonable amount for alimony and child support, and likely reduce the professional fees that might otherwise be incurred.
Why Hire Us As The Forensic Accountant?
As part of the divorce process, the forensic accountant collaborates regularly with the client and their attorney to, among other things: obtain and analyze relevant documents and records such as bank statements; personal and business tax returns; retirement account and broker trading statements; assist with the discovery phase of the litigation; perform public records, Internet and asset searches; investigate financial discrepancies involving personal and business finances; assist with preparing a reliable and complete financial affidavit and mandatory disclosures required by the court; and determine the reliability of the financial affidavits and mandatory disclosures filed by the opposing spouse.
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Frequently, at least one spouse is convinced that the other spouse is hiding, diverting, misusing, or liquidating marital assets and using credit cards for nonmarital uses. The belief that one spouse is misusing marital assets can be based on reliable information and data, an unfounded belief based on suspicions raised by others such as friends and relatives, or a combination of those two circumstances.
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Our principal duty to each client and their attorney is to approach each alleged claim, suspicion, or circumstance with professional skepticism. Among other things, this means we will not blindly pursue a costly and unproductive investigation unless the documents, records or other information we receive and analyze leads us to believe that there is more than a remote chance that an act of deception has occurred, and the financial impact is materially adverse, to one or both parties.
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Along the way, we are constantly evaluating whether the errors and omission in the financial affidavits are unintentional errors or purposeful acts. When the later occurs, we will meet with the client and counsel and agree on an expanded but pointed course of action. Sometimes, a reasonable decision is made not to pursue a misstatement of value regardless of the cause.
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Our findings and recommendations will be invaluable in arriving at an equitable solution to the financial disputes by succeeding with a meaningful court-ordered mediation, preventing lengthy and demoralizing litigation, minimizing professional fees, and reducing the stress caused by the entire divorce process.
