Imagine receiving all of your financial records in divorce, which includes years’ worth of bank statement. These include taxes, credit card statements report, reports from brokerages, pay statements, and other business financial documents.
You now have the information.
You may have few practical solutions.
Financial records might not always be readily available, but this shouldn’t make matrimonial problems more complicated. It can be difficult to identify the right documents to use and identify crucial missing pieces.
Begin with the query and not the spreadsheet.
The process of financial discovery of a divorce forensic accountant in New Jersey will differ from the process of a person who simply organizes papers.
Imagine that the dispute involves the income that is available to support. It is helpful to review the tax return, however professional or business owners who are compensated well may receive their compensation in different ways. Salary and bonuses can be a challenge to assess according to your particular circumstances.
If there are assets which may be hidden, it is important to track the assets. The activity of banks, transfers, and spending patterns could be analyzed to provide a complete financial picture.
It’s not about accumulating every scrap of paper that you can imagine. The objective is to collect the required documents needed to answer certain financial questions.
Business Ownership Impacts the Discovery Process
A privately owned company could give a new dimension to matrimonial discovery.
Performing business valuation for divorce in New Jersey requires appropriate financial information about the company. Depending on the engagement the expert might require historic financial statements, tax information or ownership records, as well as other documents relevant to studying the business and creating an opinion on the value.
Incomplete information could cause problems.
If you only look at the company’s revenue without examining expenses, then it is only a small part of its financial picture. A single year’s worth of data may not show the extent to which performance is normal or extraordinary.
SJS Forensics assists counsel by identifying relevant documents, helping to formulate specific discovery requests, as well as reviewing documents to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the documents.
The existence of financial variances does not necessarily mean that there is something else going on.
Unknown transactions can easily raise suspicions in divorce proceedings because they are emotional.
Transfers between accounts might appear suspicious until the appropriate accounts reveal its origin. A large amount of money could have an ordinary explanation. Conversely, a seemingly routine sequence of transactions could merit greater scrutiny when examined together.
It is vital to start with an objective analysis, as forensic accounting must not start by assuming that there was a violation.
The analysis should start with the documents.
Mediation can be more productive with Better Information
Financial experts are typically used in courtroom testimony however they could prove useful earlier. When two parties do not agree on the value of their business, their the value of income, property that is separate, or unusual financial activity the need to clarify these issues prior mediation can help define what is actually contested.
SJS Forensics can help resolve complex financial questions through combining forensic accounting skills with a settlement oriented approach.
Expert witness accountants who handle matrimonial disputes need to be able present their reasoning clearly to attorneys and non-accountants.
The objective is to minimize the uncertainties
A complicated divorce may contain thousands of financial transactions accumulated over many years. It doesn’t mean that you’ll get financial clarity just by filing the paperwork. The documents need to be reviewed to determine what they reveal as well as what remains unanswered and if further information might be needed.
It’s a benefit that can be realized from financial analysis that is forensic. We don’t want to make divorces more difficult by producing a huge pile of paperwork. You’re trying to decrease the number of unanswered questions you have in a financial scenario that is complex.