10 Things Divorce Attorneys Won’t Say: “My Lack of Fiscal Know-how Will Cost You”
June 20, 2012
From Smart Money Magazine, today we look at Point #3 from the article “10 things Divorce Attorneys Won’t Say.”
Number 3: “My lack of fiscal know-how will cost you.”
This is a difficult one because a divorce lawyer has to make a judgment call in certain cases whether to recommend that the client hire a financial expert of some type – either a tax accountant, business appraiser or some other type of financial expert.
In most cases, this is not a difficult call at all. After all, the vast majority of divorce cases don’t involve enough financially (and many times, nothing at all) that this is even an issue. A few cases are so complex that a financial expert of some type is mandatory.
Any expert is supposed to know not only his or her field, but the parameters of his or her field. A divorce expert needs to know enough about taxes, business valuations, investments, real estate, business organizations and other financial matters to know when s/he is at the limits of his or her knowledge. The divorce expert needs to know enough about these field to be able to direct the expert and understand the results of the expert’s services and how to incorporate it into the divorce.
So, in a case where there are complex financial circumstances involved, parties should hire lawyers with sufficient experience and knowledge to understand them, but also to understand when a higher degree of expertise is warranted.
