A forensic accountant can provide extremely valuable resources to a divorcing spouse who knows or is suspicious that the other spouse is hiding assets.
Once your divorce is complete, it's finalized. You may not be able to recover any assets you later become aware of that your spouse has hidden during your divorce proceedings.
If you're considering taking advantage of the services of a forensic accountant during your divorce, you should be aware of the following:
A forensic accountant can help a spouse who is divorcing to find financial assets that the other spouse is attempting to hide.
A forensic accountant's main job in the case of a divorce is to assess the other spouse's financial situation and determine what the entirety of that spouse's assets are.
Many spouses may attempt to hide assets in off-shore accounts or in other places where the client spouse is unable to uncover them. With a forensic accountant, the client spouse can be more certain that all of the spouse's assets are being factored into the divorce agreement.
Forensic accountants often assist attorneys in divorce cases to request financial documents from another party that are pertinent to the financial repercussions of the divorce.
A spouse who is hiding assets may be unwilling to hand over financial documents during the divorce proceedings. Forensic accountants know how to draft formal requests for these documents that must be honored by the spouse with undisclosed financial resources.
A forensic account can testify in court or give a deposition providing evidence of hidden financial assets of one of the spouses.
Forensic accountants don't just offer help behind the scenes. They can also testify or give depositions in support of the client spouse's arguments and rights.
Forensic accountants will usually interview the spouse that they are working for to uncover any information that could reveal hidden assets owned by the other spouse.
While forensic accountants handle much of the work of investigating a spouse's financial situation, they do typically request the help of the client spouse. A forensic accountant will usually begin handling a divorce by interviewing the client spouse in depth to discover clues about whether or how the other spouse may be hiding assets.
Forensic accountants are especially helpful when the client spouse has been largely disconnected with managing the couple's finances throughout the marriage.
In many married couples, one spouse handles finances while the other spouse handles domestic duties like caring for children. It can be hard for a divorcing spouse who hasn't ever been involved in managing finances to determine the financial state of the couple.
A forensic accountant firm, like MacKenzie & Company LLC, is especially helpful in cases where the client spouse is unfamiliar with financial details and doesn't fully understand the extent of jointly owned assets.