A high-asset Florida divorce often requires a team of specialists who have experience handling complicated high-asset issues. As such, you need more than a high-asset divorce attorney. You need a full team who ensure that you are not a victim of an ex-spouse’s hidden assets and misrepresented or concealed incomes.
Whenever income and property values aren’t adding up during divorce negotiations, your high-asset divorce attorney can reach out to other industry professionals to get to the truth. Here are some of the professionals worth considering as part of your high-asset divorce team.
Specialists to Consider for Your High-Asset Divorce Team
Florida Property Appraiser
If you and your attorney have reason to doubt your ex-spouse’s claim about the value of real or personal property, a Florida real and personal property appraiser can be your first line of defense. As a general rule, appraisers ought to be consulted whenever real estate is involved in a divorce. More broadly, valuable personal property such as jewelry and family antiques are often important valuables worth appraising.
If you seek out the services of a Florida appraiser to solve high-asset disputes, you will need to provide the appraiser with the following:
- A detailed list of items and real estate to be appraised
- The reason for the property dispute
- The reason and need for any and all appraisals
Once the appraiser understands the situation, he or she can do their job. Typically, the Florida appraiser begins by outlining a plan for the appraisal process based on some initial data. This outline and initial plan provides a point of reference that ensures consistency when comparing the appraiser’s final valuations of all the property with initial data.
Each piece of property will be analyzed, and an appraiser pays attention to the following when making a determination on a property’s value:
- The property’s rarity and/or antique status
- Market information and data that helps the appraiser form an opinion on the value of all property in question
- Using the above factors, the appraiser can then determine the property’s value
- After making a value determination, the appraiser can discern whether the valuation is appropriate based on the information used and the evidence gathered
Given the extensive nature of the appraisal process, a high-asset appraiser is an invaluable part of your high-asset divorce team when you need to know that you are getting a fair deal. However, using an appraiser depends on the notion that your ex is at least being fair enough to put all assets on the table.
Forensic Certified Public Accountant
Sometimes, a spouse may hide assets. In those cases, a forensic certified public accountant becomes essential. A forensic CPA helps you find an ex-spouse’s concealed or hidden assets in a number of ways.
First, the forensic CPA can examine bank records, business contracts, tax returns and other pertinent documents that expose concealed or missing funds. A forensic CPA knows where to look to find the discrepancies within financial documents, and these discrepancies can lead you to the missing or concealed funds.
Including professionals such as these provide a buttress against improper valuations or hidden funds in a divorce, ensuring you have a fair divorce negotiation.
Our next topic in this high-asset divorce series highlights the steps you need to take to get the best outcomes for your high-asset Florida divorce.
Contact high-asset Destin divorce attorney John F. Greene or call 850-213-2673 to discuss your Florida high-asset divorce.
Did you find this article useful?
Here you can access all six parts of this useful guide to high asset divorce:
- Part 1: Avoid Costly Mistakes in Your High-Asset Florida Divorce
- Part 2: Critical Steps in the Early Stages of a High-Asset Divorce
- Part 3: Hiring the Right High-Asset Florida Divorce Lawyer for You
- Part 4: Key Specialists to Consider As Part of Your High-Asset Divorce Team
- Part 5: Getting the Best Possible Outcome for Your High-Asset Florida Divorce
- Part 6: High Asset Divorces Require an Experienced High-Asset Divorce Attorney
