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A divorce is a stressful matter, requiring several processes to be followed to execute smoothly. Financial matters between both parties get pretty complicated, and avoiding conflict sometimes becomes unavoidable. This can be dodged by hiring someone who can simplify the procedures for you and disclose all the assets and attributes that need to be considered. People seeking a divorce, as well as divorce lawyers, hire forensic accountants. These forensic accountants dispense their fraud investigation service to identify hidden assets and provide information regarding the valuation of professional assets and incomes from various streams. Let us delve deeper into this topic and find out what a forensic accountant does and how people going through a divorce can benefit by hiring them.
Forensic accounting: The basics
Forensic accountants, or professionals in that field, use their investigative skills to analyze the finances of individuals and their businesses. To do this, these professionals utilize state-of-the-art software resources and applications. People often seek the help of professionals to audit the financial standings of the parties involved in the divorce and help smoothen the divorce process. Forensic accountants are mainly hired for their fraud investigation service and other cases such as Divorce proceedings, economic damages, money laundering, bankruptcy, and tax evasion. During court trials, a professional from the forensic accounting domain can provide expert testimony, explaining their finances. To understand whether you need to hire one as well, it is advised that you acquire information regarding how they help the divorce process.
Different ways a forensic accountant can help couples seeking divorce
Forensic accountants play a significant role in divorce proceedings, as they identify financial discrepancies in all accounts qualifying for distribution between both parties. The accountant can perform the following actions to help clients:
- Identification of joint assets/liabilities: It has often been identified within couples that one partner handles all the finances, which puts the other at a disadvantage. At the time of divorce, the partner who handles all the finances might attempt to hide some assets to attain a bigger portion of the divorce settlement. A forensic accountant can stop this by identifying all the assets and liabilities eligible for distribution.
- Location of hidden assets: In several cases, spouses often attempt to keep some of their assets hidden, as this would allow them to sway the divorce settlement in their favor. As these assets are not discovered, they are often not divided between both parties. This can be avoided by hiring a forensic accountant who will carefully analyze the tax returns for both partners and their spending habits. An expert professional in this field could uncover assets held by dummy corporations, under-reported income, falsified expenditures, and debts, allowing for a fair and equal settlement.
- Determination of Child/Spousal support: In many cases, the spouse earning more within a relationship would under-report their income to avoid/minimize the child support obligations they would be bound to consider. A forensic accountant can prevent this by helping the couple determine the actual incomes of both parties, therefore allowing an accurate determination of spousal and/or child support.
- Accurate strategization of asset/liability division: A forensic accountant can help uncover both spouses' financial ins and outs, which can help in the fair distribution of assets and liabilities between them. These professionals will account for all liabilities and marital property, making an equal and fair division of assets and liabilities more feasible.
Do you need a forensic accountant?
One might interpret that a forensic accountant is only needed when there are suspicions of one/both spouses holding hidden assets or for their fraud investigation service. However, this is not the case, as they can also play an important role when assets of high value are in the picture and the case is of high financial complexity. A forensic accountant can also help individuals figure out their divorce settlements in case of an ongoing conflict over property distribution or businesses owned by any/both spouses. If one of the spouses has access to significant amounts of premarital assets/liabilities, the forensic accountant can also facilitate a fair division of those. Even if your spouse has hired their forensic accountant, you should hire one for yourself, as their forensic accountant will function in favor of their interest.
In several instances, Single Joint Experts are hired. They look out for the interest of both parties in the divorce case. Hiring an SJE (Single Joint Expert) can help save costs for both parties while creating a smooth and efficient cooperative environment for the divorce to be executed. In case of a bitter or angry divorce, an SJE becomes even more critical, as they would ensure a fair distribution of marital wealth. Therefore, one must acknowledge the importance of the involvement of a forensic accountant in case of a divorce. However, married couples often hire forensic accountants to help evaluate their properties and businesses when they are not considering a divorce.
It is suggested that you look for an experienced professional, as there are several ways of masking assets and liabilities, some of which are nearly impossible to uncover. If you are going through a divorce or considering the possibility of one, it is suggested that you head over to the official website of NSKT Global and book a free appointment with one of our experts. Our team of expert forensic accountants can help you evaluate all marital and individual assets that can be considered for division among spouses and determine spousal/child support to be paid or received. Let us help you make an already stressful process easier for you and ensure that you do not get the short end of the stick during divorce settlements. Click here, and book an online appointment now!
