Even if you try for a collaborative divorce, you might still want to consider hiring a forensic accountant. This is particularly true if you have a lot of assets in common.
It is not a lack of trust, but with a high asset divorce, there may be assets hiding that both you and your spouse do not know about or have forgotten.
What does a forensic accountant do?
Forensic accounting is a bit of a mystery for most people. Essentially what they do is research your finances. They act as investigators, tracing transactions and people until they find the source.
What will they find?
Their job is to find any assets that you might be forgetting about. They will also uncover debts you and your spouse owe. Some things that might come up are:
Old credit card, tax, or loan debt
Real estate holdings
Beneficiary information
Money owed to you as accounts receivable
It is easy to miss items when dividing everything in a high asset divorce.
Why use a forensic accountant in a collaborative divorce?
As long as you and your spouse agree, a forensic accountant can ensure you uncover all of the assets and liabilities to ensure the divorce is equitable. You are using a professional to ensure that all debt and holdings are in the open when you sit down to divide them.
A forensic accountant in a collaborative divorce is not necessarily adversarial. You and your spouse need to account for all assets and liabilities. Who knows, the accountant might uncover something both of you forgot about.
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