WORKING WITH A CERTIFIED DIVORCE FINANCIAL ANALYST
Why you should hire a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
When it comes to divorce, one of the biggest concerns is money. Many clients often worry about:
- Maintaining their standard of living
- Their children’s welfare and education
- Retirement
- Health care costs
- Losing assets that they are emotionally tied to
- Not having the knowledge of their marital estate’s contents and values
Unfortunately for many people facing divorce, they do not realize the impacts of not having a financial analysis done before finalizing their divorce. That is because our role in divorce is relatively new. Usually, the first call made is to an attorney and its understandable because divorce is a legal process and having an experienced legal team is important, however being legally protected and being educated on the financial impacts are two very different things. When a divorce is finalized, the division of assets is almost always FINAL with few exceptions.
This is why building your divorce team is essential. A divorce team allows individual experts in their fields to work towards the results you are looking for. If you are not sure if this is the right approach for you, ask yourself this question: would you hire an electrician to analyze and repair your plumbing issues? Both professions together can work in your home, but they obviously do not perform the same skills.
A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) works with you and your divorce team by helping you with:
- An analysis and understanding of the value of your marital estate. Not all assets are equal although they may appear to be. Things like taxes, inflation, account characterization, liquidity, and utility can change how each asset should be valued. Another benefit of this analysis is leverage. You may not want a particular asset in your divorce but knowing the value of it may afford you the ability to bargain for an asset you want to keep.
- The pros and cons to settlement options. This gives you confidence while you negotiate the division of assets. Don’t negotiate unless you know the impacts of your decisions on your financial future.
- Preparation of financial statements for your divorce. Gathering information may be a challenge. Knowing how to find the information could also be daunting. In a divorce, you are required to disclose all of your financial information. We can make this process less stressful and organized.
- A look into the future. With a cash flow analysis, you will be able to see your ability to thrive financially or at very least understand know what your financial picture may look like.
- Serving as an expert witness in litigated cases. If needed to appear in court, we can testify as an expert on the value of the marital estate or individual assets of the marriage.
- Referrals for forensic accountants, fraud examiners, business evaluations, and property appraisers. We are experts in our field. There are other certified professionals required to determine certain values and whereabouts of assets. When this is the case, and in the event one must testify to these things, we will refer you to those who can help.