Imagine receiving years of bank statement as well as tax returns, credit card records or statements from brokerages, wage reports, and business financial records during a divorce.
Now you have the technical details.
You may have few practical solutions.
The matrimonial court case isn’t necessarily difficult since financial records aren’t always available. It’s not easy to identify the relevant documents and to determine if there are essential missing parts.
Start with the question Not the spreadsheet.
A forensic accountant working on divorce in New Jersey may approach financial discovery in a different way from someone just arranging documents.
Let’s say that the dispute involves income that can be used to pay for. A tax return can be helpful but an owner of a company or a highly compensated professional could receive money in multiple ways. Salary, bonuses, distributions and other types of compensation can require additional analysis depending on the circumstances.
If there are assets that may be hidden, it is important to keep track of these assets. Bank activity, transfers and spending patterns can be analyzed to provide a complete financial picture.
The purpose isn’t to get all documents. It’s about obtaining the documents required to answer specific financial queries.
Business Ownership Impacts the Discovery Process
A privately-owned company could provide a further layer of matrimonial love.
Performing business valuation for divorce in New Jersey requires appropriate financial information about the company. A professional may be required to provide historic financial information, tax data, ownership records and other pertinent documentation based on the engagement.
Incomplete information could cause problems.
In other words, looking at revenue without understanding expenses is only a part of a company’s financial tale. Similarly, examining a single year’s performance may not tell whether performance is typical or exceptional.
SJS Forensics helps counsel by making sense of relevant documents, preparing specific discovery requests, as well as reviewing documents to ensure their accuracy.
If a gap in your financial balance is small but it doesn’t mean that something was concealed.
A divorce is a difficult process, and a transaction that is unfamiliar can raise suspicions.
It’s not always easy to determine the location where a transfer was taken place. A large withdrawal could have an usual reason. However, a routine sequence of transactions could merit an examination closer when taken together.
It is important to start with an analysis that is objective, as forensic accounting should not begin by assuming that there was misconduct.
The documentation should be the basis for analysis.
Mediation can be more productive by providing more information
Experts in finance are often associated with courtroom testimony but a more thorough analysis could be conducted much earlier. Determining issues like business value, income or separate property before mediation can help define the real dispute.
SJS Forensics can help resolve complicated financial issues using forensic accounting experience with a settlement-focused approach.
Expert witness accountants of matrimonial disputes should be able to explain their analysis clearly to attorneys and non-accountants.
The Objective is to Limit the Risk of Uncertainty
Transactions in the financial sector from many years can accumulate in a lengthy divorce. However, this doesn’t mean you’ll get financial clarity simply by making the necessary records. It’s still up to someone to decide which records are needed, what questions remain unanswered and what additional information is necessary.
It’s a benefit that can be realized from financial analysis that is forensic. The aim isn’t making a divorce more complicated by creating a new pile of paperwork. You’re trying to decrease the number of unanswered questions you have when dealing with a financial issue that is complicated.