
Financial Consultant
We walk alongside those in the divorce process and their attorneys providing financial consulting services. As a consulting expert, we help with higher net worth clientele or with complex estate issues in divorce disputes. We often sit alongside attorneys and litigants in mediation helping navigate the estate spreadsheet, providing financial options, and helping litigants and attorneys make informed decisions. These are engagements with, typically, a lower retainer deposit requirement than the testifying expert engagements. Our retainers for these cases are typically $2,500 for 10 hours of work.
Denise French is our leading consulting expert and can provide pension valuations, complex estate valuation and division ideas, insurance and annuity opinions in divorce, discuss and help solve tax issues relevant to divorce, value and characterize executive level qualified and non-qualified benefits and help with general financial needs in divorce.
Here is a detailed list of what services we often provide as a consulting expert in divorce matters:
Getting Financially Organized
- Helping litigants’ completefinancial homework assigned by the family law attorney
- Creating the marital inventory and the financial information statement
- Helping litigants understand what they own
- Answering financial questions
Mediation Support
- Attending mediation to help with financial questions and issues
- Creating and managing the inventory as division options arise in mediation
- Analyzing the pros and cons of different division options
- Providing pro-forma tax calculations related to divorce
- Creating income estimates as division options are presented in mediation
- Creating cash flow and estate growth estimates as division options are presented in mediation
Complex Issues
- Tax issues related to asset division and claiming qualified dependents
- Pension plan valuation and division options
- Value and characterize executive benefit plans including RSU’s, stock options, deferred compensation plans and other highly compensated employee plans
- Identifying and valuing oil & gas company plans
- Identifying assets given to financial advisors or insurance agents
- Identifying & valuing corporate retirement benefits to executive level employees
- Identifying & valuing military and municipal employee benefits
- Provide lump sum payouts versus monthly income calculations
- Illustrate social security options after divorce
Post-Divorce
- We work through Engrave Wealth Partners to create a financial plan for you after the divorce is complete which includes income planning, investment placement, tax planning & estate preservation strategies
- Help move accounts you were awarded into your name
- Investment placement through Engrave Wealth Partners after your divorce
- Tax planning including helping you change your employee withholding, ROTH conversions, income bucket allocation and tax loss selling if applicable
- Social security estimates and planning
- Auto and home insurance assistance through our insurance partners
- Health insurance assistance through our health insurance partners
- Help you plan and prepare for financial freedom as you move into this next phase of your life!
*Disclaimer: Denise French is a financial advisor at Engrave Wealth Partners.