Irina Anissimova, CPA, CFF
Forensic Accountant
Accounting for divorce is not conceptually difficult, what makes it complicated and sometimes hard to understand is the application of legal requirements to the rapidly evolving complexity of modern financial affairs.
A middle class couple in need of a forensic accountant for divorce usually owns assets and liabilities of multiple types that have different characteristics and require different treatment in the division of property (think or mortgaged real estate, bank, brokerage and retirement accounts). Their income usually comes from
multiple sources and some of it may not be easy to distinguish from assets (think of equity compensation) or even quantify (think of a family business providing substantial perks to its owners). And what about this private professional practice - is it a business that needs to be valued and divided as a community asset or is it just a stream of income available for support?
The articles in this section were written to provide a very general idea of what an accountant can do in a divorce situation and how he/she does it. They are a starting point to understand what questions to ask of your accountant and what to expect in the process of employing an expert.