Hiring a forensic accountant for divorce can be a crucial step in divorce proceedings. Our unique skill set allows us to accurately value a couple’s assets, particularly their business interests, to ensure both parties receive a fair settlement.
At Frenkels Forensics, our divorce work is central to our practice. We frequently work with solicitors and barristers across the UK, providing the forensic accountancy expertise they need to accurately advise their clients on the financial issues arising from their separation and achieve a fair outcome.
For assistance call us on 0330 118 8200 or Make An Online Enquiry.
When Should You Consider Hiring A Forensic Accountant For Divorce?
If the assets held by you and your ex-partner are easily valued, such as cash and real property, you may not need to consider hiring a forensic accountant for divorce. However, where the value of your assets is more difficult to ascertain, forensic accountancy input can be crucial. One of the most common scenarios in which forensic accountants are called on to assist in valuing a couple’s assets is when those assets comprise business interests.
How Can Hiring A Forensic Accountant For Divorce Help?
Valuing a business for the purposes of divorce proceedings is extremely complex. Several potential methods can be used, including the capital maintainable earnings, net assets, and dividend yield methods. Selecting the correct one in any given case necessitates an appreciation of many factors, including the business’s size, trading patterns, and assets. A forensic accountant’s skill set, which combines accountancy expertise, data analysis, commercial acumen, and legal knowledge, is perfectly suited to the task.
If hiring a forensic accountant for divorce is necessary in your case, the earlier you instruct one, the better. Once both parties are in possession of an impartial report prepared by an expert detailing how much their business interests are worth, they can embark on productive settlement discussions, saving them time and money in the long run.
If your case proceeds to a court hearing, the forensic accountant’s report will be used by the Judge to understand the financial aspects of the case and reach a fair decision. In divorce cases, the Judge usually orders the parties to instruct a ‘single joint expert’, meaning that one forensic accountant produces a report on behalf of both parties. We routinely act as single joint experts in divorce proceedings, attending court to explain and justify our findings and answer any questions the Judge has.
How Should A Couple’s Assets Be Divided When They Divorce?
When a couple separates, their assets need to be divided fairly as part of the divorce settlement. Those assets generally fall into two categories, sometimes referred to as ‘volatile’ and ‘copper bottomed’.
Copper bottomed assets are those whose value is generally expected to increase over time. The most obvious copper bottom asset in divorce cases is the marital home.
By contrast, the value of volatile assets can fluctuate wildly in a short space of time. Business interests are volatile assets since their value can drop sharply in line with market conditions or internal factors.
When a couple owns a combination of copper bottomed and volatile assets, such as a marital home and a business, a fair settlement must account for the fact that the value of the property will likely remain relatively stable or increase in time, whereas the business may dramatically drop in value overnight. If you agree to take your share of the marital pot as a business asset and it subsequently plummets, you cannot seek to renege on your agreement later. You may, therefore, walk away from the marriage with very little. Accordingly, a key task for your legal advisors and our divorce forensic accountancy experts is striving to balance securing the best possible settlement terms with managing the level of risk you take on.
Why Choose Us When Hiring A Forensic Accountant For Divorce?
Our forensic accountants appreciate the stress divorce proceedings can place on you and your family. We aim to alleviate this burden as much as we can by swiftly and accurately valuing the relevant business interests so you feel reassured that you and your family will receive everything you are entitled to in your divorce settlement.
Our clients’ interests are at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to add real value to their matters by working collaboratively with their legal teams to secure the very best outcomes in the most cost-efficient way. We regularly receive feedback from the legal professionals and clients we work with praising our ‘invaluable advice’, ‘outstanding contribution’, and ‘very impressive’ work.
To discover more, please call us on 0330 118 8200 or Make An Online Enquiry.
“Thank you ever so much for the work and advice you have provided . The report was clear and accessible and will not hesitate to recommend you all.”
“I am indebted to you for your contribution, and for explaining things in plain English such that even lawyers can understand the issues”
“May I take this opportunity to thank you for your assistance in this matter. Counsel and the judge said that your report was one of the best they had seen in that it was concise and technically easy to understand.”