If you and your spouse have considerable assets at the time of your divorce, you want to be sure you receive your fair share. After all, even though Texas law generally entitles you to half the marital estate, your soon-to-be ex-spouse may hide assets or otherwise try to take more than his or her due.
During divorce proceedings, forensic accountants often provide special support to lawyers and others. While not everyone needs the assistance of an accounting professional, adding one to your divorce team may help you in a few significant ways.
Valuing the marital estate
You and your husband or wife may not agree about the value of the assets you own. Nonetheless, to advocate effectively for an equal share, you must know how much your property, investments, belongings and other assets are worth.
A forensic accountant can likely help you come up with a realistic number. This fact may be particularly useful if you or your spouse owns a business venture.
Calculating spousal and child support
In the Lone Star State, judges often award spousal support to preserve each person’s quality of life after divorce. They also regularly order child support to provide for the needs of kids.
While Texas has guidelines for calculating child support and alimony, a forensic accountant may help you estimate how much spousal or child support you can plan to receive.
Finding hidden or disguised assets
If your spouse tries to hide assets from you until after your divorce concludes, you may end up with meaningfully less than half of the marital estate.
Forensic accountants know how to locate seemingly missing assets. Furthermore, if your spouse knows you are working with an accounting professional, he or she may steer clear of deceptive behaviors.
Even if you believe your spouse is not likely to hide assets, you may benefit from having a forensic accountant on your divorce team. Put simply, accounting professionals often change the outcome of divorce matters for those who work with them.