Getting a divorce is tough. One of the things you have to do is to give an account of all of your assets. You also need to be able to show which assets you owned prior to your marriage, the assets that you believe are separate and those that you believe are shared.
Doing that can be hard, because there may be assets that are in your spouse’s name or even some you don’t know about. That’s why having a forensic accountant on your divorce team is a good idea.
Determining your spouse’s income is one of the most difficult things to do during a divorce, but having a forensic accountant work on that is helpful. They are trained to go through both business and personal records, which means that they know what to look for. They are trained to see discrepancies, to find hidden assets or to see if items are being withheld. They can see unethical moves, such as creating fake debt or how much cash has been removed from the account to purchase expensive items that you may or may not know about.
For the purpose of negotiating your settlement, you need to know your spouse’s true income. That’s something your forensic accountant will be able to do for you. Additionally, many forensic accountants are experts in valuation, so they can be even more effective when working on your case.
If you’re concerned about missing or hidden assets, or if you think that your spouse isn’t being honest about their assets, using a forensic accountant during your divorce may be the right solution. Your attorney can talk to you more about how this method of accounting could help.
