Imagine a collection of years-long financial documents, including bank statements taxes and credit card statements. the statements of a brokerage and payroll reports.
You have now the information.
In reality, you could have very few answers.
The matrimonial court case isn’t necessarily difficult since financial records are unavailable. The problem lies in determining which documents answer the most important questions and when they are not available.
Start with the question and not the spreadsheet.
A forensic accountant for white collar defense may approach financial discovery differently from someone simply organizing documents.
Imagine that the dispute involves funds that are available to support. Examining tax returns is a good idea, however a business owner or highly compensated professionals may be able to be able to receive funds through a variety of channels. The process of calculating bonuses and salaries can be complicated to analyze dependent on the circumstances of the individual.
If the subject is not disclosed assets, other records may become relevant. Banking activity, transfer patterns or spending patterns as well as movement between accounts are variables that could help you create more complete financial information.
It’s not about accumulating every piece of paper that you can imagine. The goal is to gather the data that are required to address specific financial questions.
Business Ownership Impacts the Discovery Process
A privately-owned company could provide a further layer of matrimonial discovery.
A business valuation to be used in divorce in New Jersey requires appropriate financial details regarding the company. A valuation expert might require historic financial statements and the tax records, ownership information and other documentation based on the contract.
Information that is incomplete can cause issues.
If you focus solely on the revenue of your company and do not take into account expenses, it is only a small part of the overall financial picture. A single year’s performance may not be a good indicator of an organization’s normal or exceptional performance.
SJS Forensics provides assistance to counsel by identifying documents that are relevant and assisting in the formulation of targeted discovery requests and scrutinizing the documents to ensure precision and completeness.
Not Every Financial Difference Means There was something else going on.
The divorce process is an emotional process, and any transaction that isn’t understood could raise suspicions.
The reason for an unidentified transfer won’t be discovered until the records are consulted. A significant withdrawal may have an unrelated reason. However, a routine sequence of transactions could merit an examination closer when taken together.
The objective assessment is important as forensic accounting cannot start by concluding that there has an error.
Records should be the first stage for analysis.
Mediation is more efficient by providing more information
Financial experts are often found in courtrooms however, they may help much earlier. If there is a disagreement between parties about business value, the value of income, property that is separate or other unusual financial activities the need to clarify these issues prior mediation can help define the issues that are actually being debated.
SJS Forensics combines forensic accounting expertise with a settlement-minded approach and participates in mediation to help address complicated financial queries.
Expert witness accountants of matrimonial disputes must be able communicate their findings clearly to attorneys and non-accountants.
The aim is to reduce the uncertainty
Even a divorce could be accompanied by thousands of financial transactions that have been accumulation over a lengthy time. It doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to get financial clarity simply by making the necessary records. The records must be examined for what they indicate and what questions remain unanswered and if further details are required.
This is the benefit of an analysis of forensics. The goal isn’t to make divorce more difficult by producing another enormous stack of papers. The objective is to minimize the amount of unanswered financial questions in a complicated situation.