Will I Need a Forensic Accountant for My Orlando Divorce?

While many spouses in Orlando who are getting divorced will likely be able to move through the divorce process successfully without assistance from a forensic accountant, many spouses can actually benefit from having a forensic accountant on their divorce team. Generally speaking, in any high asset divorce case in Florida, or any case in which you have concerns about the other spouse hiding assets, a forensic accountant’s services can be invaluable. An article in Forbes explains that more people than you might think could really benefit from working with a forensic accountant during the divorce process. We want to tell you more about some of the jobs a forensic accountant can perform that may leave you much better off financially in the long run.

Identifying Manipulated Financial Disclosures 

In Florida as in other states, when spouses get divorced, they are required to provide financial disclosures. These disclosures involve providing the court with detailed information about income, investments, and other assets and debts so that they can be appropriately classified. As you may know, under Florida divorce law, property is classified either as marital property or separate property. Marital property is subject to division, while separate property is not.

A forensic accountant can examine tax documents, income information, and other financial materials to determine whether your spouse has manipulated financial disclosures to avoid having certain assets identified as marital property and divided in the divorce. 

Locating Hidden Assets 

While manipulated financial disclosures are a roundabout way of hiding assets, sometimes a spouse will try to conceal a particular asset altogether. For example, a spouse might gift an asset to a friend or family member shortly before the divorce case so that it does not have to be listed on any financial disclosures. Or, for instance, a spouse might sell a piece of real estate to a friend or family member at an extremely low price with intentions of buying it back once the divorce has been finalized. Hidden assets can also take the form of a spouse using traceable assets to invest in a venture where those assets are less traceable.

These are only a few examples, and it is important to understand that there are a wide variety of ways in which a party can attempt to hide or conceal assets so that they will not be subject to distribution in an Orlando divorce. A forensic accountant can locate these kinds of hidden assets so that you can ensure they are properly classified by the court and, if necessary, divided in your divorce.

Contact an Orlando Divorce Attorney 

Divorces can be incredibly complicated, especially when the married couple owns valuable and complex property. One of the experienced Orlando divorce attorneys at our firm can talk with you today about your case, and we can help you to determine if adding a forensic accountant to your divorce team could be beneficial. Contact Anderson & Ferrin for more information about the wide variety of divorce and family law cases we handle in Central Florida.

Resource:

forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/2014/09/04/why-a-forensic-accountant-belongs-on-your-divorce-team/#64fc2f31718a

https://www.vandersonlaw.com/division-of-marital-debts-in-an-orlando-divorce/