Ending a marriage and a lifelong relation is never easy. It involves a number of different complex issues that are often interconnected. People believe that the process of getting a divorce is one that only involves your divorce lawyer and no one else. However, that is not entirely the case. More often than not there are situations where a divorce lawyer will need to take the help of a professional accountant to solve the complexities of the case, etc.
The role of forensic accountants in an Orange County divorce case is often underestimated and few people recognize the importance that they have. Often the first question that is asked when an accountant is called in a divorce case is why you need a forensic accountant in a divorce case.
Why are Forensic Accountants Needed?
- There are often situations especially in terms of child support determinations where the amount that each of the spouse earns is hard to determine. Often in cases where both the spouses are self employed such a situation may arise. Here the use of forensic accountants will ensure that they do an income analysis to determine the correct amount of child support that needs to be paid.
- They can also be used by the parent who has been handed a high child support payment. Who can make sure they provide their income analysis to back their claim of an unfairly high child support amount that should be reduced.
- Similar to child support, even in issues of spousal support it can be hard to determine the correct spousal support payment. Here once again the use of income/cash flow analysis will be made by the forensic accountant to determine the correct amount.
- For self-employed spouses that own their own business entities, it will be hard for the courts to gauge the valuation of the business and its assets. A forensic accountant knows the appropriate methods used to determine the value of a company and will outline that value to the court.
- In a number of cases separate property and community property are not kept apart from one another and they are often either mixed together or used side by side. Here, tracing of what and what proportion originates from the community property and what originates from the separate property can require an expert determination from a forensic accountant.
Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.
