When Should You Hire a Forensic Accountant in a Texas Divorce?

 Posted on February 20, 2023 in Divorce

It is rare for a high asset divorce not to involve complex financial issues that need to be addressed. If your marriage was one that involved high net worth assets and property, your divorce attorney may suggest hiring a forensic accountant to analyze all the financial documents submitted by both parties in order to help determine how those assets should be divided, how much child support and spousal maintenance should be paid, and other financial decisions.

When Should a Forensic Accountant Be Consulted?

While many people think forensic accountants are only called in to help in a divorce if there is suspected financial wrongdoing on the party of one of the spouses, their services can actually be beneficial in a divorce where both parties are agreeable, but their financial situation is complex.

Some of the more common reasons why an attorney will suggest a forensic accountant be hired include:

• The couple has significant assets.

• One or both spouses own a business that needs to be valued.

• Both separate assets and marital assets have been commingled.

• The couple owns real estate that needs to be valued.

• There are retirement accounts that need to be divided between the spouses.

The Forensic Accounting Process

The first thing a forensic accountant will do is take all of the documents submitted by the parties and identify all of the couple’s assets and liabilities. The accountant will analyze any appraisals that have been done on any real estate the couple owns, as well as the value of any businesses and/or pensions, and other financial accounts.

The accountant will also analyze the couple’s cash flow. This will help determine what child support obligations should be based on and the amount of spousal support, if any.

If the forensic accountant was hired as one of the experts for a collaborative divorce, then they may be asked to list which assets should go to the wife, and which assets should go to the husband in order to reach a 50/50 community property split.

If the accountant uncovers the failure of either spouse to disclose assets or uncovers hidden assets, they can be called on to testify as an expert witness in court.

Contact a Travis County Complex Divorce Lawyer

If you are going through a high net worth divorce, make sure you have a skilled Austin, TX high asset divorce attorney protecting your interests in the marital estate. Call Powers Kerr & Rashidi, PLLC at 512-610-6199 to schedule a confidential consultation and find out how we can help.

Source:

https://www.theforage.com/blog/careers/forensic-accounting

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/forensicaccounting.asp