Family law

In divorce proceedings, legal professionals rely on forensic accountants to provide expert advice in a range of issues, including:

• Valuation of business interests and other assets;
• Investigation of financial transactions and asset tracing;
• Integrity review of financial information;
  
• Superannuation assessments;and
• Taxation advice
  

How can we help you?

The BDO Kendalls Forensic Services team are experienced professionals that have the necessary financial and litigation experience to provide you with a thorough analysis of the matter and a comprehensive expert report for use in litigation, mediation or arbitration. This can be done as either an expert appointed by one party or as a single expert appointed by both parties.

Importantly, we recognise that we may need to provide expert evidence in court and our team has significant experience in the family court.

Service details

A detailed description of our family law services is provided below.

Valuation of business interests and other assets
It may be necessary to measure the value of a business, company or intellectual property that forms part of the asset pool. We utilise internal resources and access international research databases to gather the information necessary to perform an accurate evaluation of the asset being valued. The BDO Kendalls Forensic Services team can also draw on the significant experience of its valuations team and their proven and accepted methodologies to determine the value of the subject asset.

Investigation of financial transactions
There will be occasions in family law matters where one party will want to obtain an understanding of the financial transactions and any changes to the asset pool since separation. We have experienced practitioners that are able to analyse the financial information provided by the parties, complete an assessment of the assets at the date of separation, complete an assessment of ownership changes and provide an analysis of movements in the asset pool in an easy to read format.

Asset tracing
Your client may want to obtain a complete understanding of the assets that form part of the asset pool. The BDO Kendalls Forensic Services team can analyse the financial information provided by the parties, make an assessment of the known assets and determine whether all assets have been disclosed.

Integrity review of financial information
An assessment of value is impacted by the nature of the financial information provided and the BDO Kendalls Forensic Services team has on occasions found that the financial information presents more questions than answers. We can assist your client to ensure that the single expert is receiving reasonable financial information by completing an integrity review of the financial information provided and presenting the findings in the form of questions to be posed to either the single expert or the other party.

Superannuation assessments
Superannuation legislation has changed significantly in relation to family law matters.  We have specialist superannuation advisers to provide expert advice on how these changes affect a client's action.  They can also assist with ongoing investment advice after a settlement has been reached.

Taxation advice
The allocation of assets may have significant taxation implications for the parties in a divorce proceeding. We can utilise the specialist taxation advisers to ensure that your client is receiving a distribution of assets in the most tax effective manner.
See our Tax advice & consulting section for more information.